While most of the world’s attention is focused squarely on the delayed Samsung Nexus Prime unveiling which should have been taking place this very week, new documents have emerged suggested that the device has now passed through the FCC and has been approved as a global Smartphone. The document came by way of a news [...]
While a concrete release date has yet to be offered for the upcoming Motorola Droid Bionic, the most recent set of leaks from within the industry suggest that it certainly will not be long until the device appears on the Verizon Wireless network at least. Heavily weighted evidence has come about by way of product [...]
&h=&q=90&w=90&h=65&zc=1" class="alignleft" alt="">
Kudos to Comcast for embracing the year 2009. The nation’s largest—and quite possibly worst —ISP has finally committed itself to deploying 100 mbps broadband beginning this year. That will make the FCC happy, what with the loft goals it set with its National Broadband Plan . It’s also good news for people who know their way around things like Usenet—taps nose like a spy. Will it be affordable, though? The big rollout will happen within the next 12 to 18 months. Most, if not all, of Comcast’s customers will be able to sign up for the super-fast service. You can thank DOCSIS 3.0 for that. Price may be an issue. Right now, Comcast offers 100 mbps down/15 mbps up service to business customers in the Minneapolis/St. Paul area for $369 per month. There’s no way you’re going to convince residential customers in this economy to shell out nearly $400 a month for Internet access, no matter how fast—that’s the price of two car payments. Now you’d have to figure that not even Comcast would be that silly to charge that kind of money for residential Internet access. I don’t know what’s involved with business-level Internet access at Comcast, but presumably it comes with free ostrich egg omelets once a week. For comparison’s sake, I already have 100 mbps Internet access from Cablevision, an ISP in the New York area. For $100 per month I get 101 (!) mbps down/15 mbps up. I am, in fact, able to max out my connection when using Usenet (I have Newsdemon ). But a fair warning to people who think the Internet is magically going to fly once they hop aboard the 100 mbps train: it won’t. Sites like YouTube are still dog-slow, Gmail isn’t any faster than it is using your regular broadband connection. In a sense, you’re faster than what these sites can handle. That will change over time, of course, but don’t think getting 100 mbps is going to change your life if all you do is check your Facebook and watch the occasional YouTube clip. It’s sorta weird: sites won’t upgrade their capacity until there’s enough people with super-fast connections to make it worth their while, and it may not be worth it to the average person to upgrade, and perhaps pay $100 per month, until it’s worth their while.
&h=&q=90&w=90&h=65&zc=1" class="alignleft" alt="">
The FCC would like to know what you do with broadband. This is what I do, and what I imagine 99 percent of Americans use it for.
&h=&q=90&w=90&h=65&zc=1" class="alignleft" alt="">
Might as well get this over with now. The FCC has announced its National Broadband Plan , which describes where the agency would like to see the U.S. in a few years’ time vis-à-vis broadband and connectedness . It’s sorta like the UK’s Digital Britain report, published last year. The big thing is this: it’s in America’s best interest to turn itself into a first-world nation again, and the best way to do that is to develop its Internet infrastructure a wee bit more. That’s the gist of it: better, faster Internet access for many more people. The FCC’s goal is to have, by 2020, 100 million homes (out of a projected 130 million) wired with 100 mbps broadband. The agency has said that broadband represents the country’s “greatest infrastructure challenge.” It’s not bridges and subway tunnels anymore—though we could sure use those, too—it’s about making sure you’re able to use the Internet easily and effectively. The idea is to make the Internet the country’s primary means of communication. The executive summary , a quick synopsis of the otherwise gigantic report, says that broadband “is a foundation for economic growth, job creation, global competitiveness and a better way of life. It is changing how we educate children, deliver healthcare, manage energy, ensure public safety, engage government, and access, organise and disseminate knowledge.” All true. Think of your typical day: how many times do you use the Internet? (And think of those days when, for whatever reason, your Internet connection is down—freak out!) You wake up and you read the news; you check your bank account to make sure you’re not being charged weird fees for no reason; you look to see if your kid’s school is closed because of the snow; you check the weather; you read your work and personal e-mail; you check your Facebook and wish your brother-in-law a happy birthday (even if you don’t mean it); you tweet to the world that “today feels like a good day, gonna be productive”; you download the new Jimi Hendrix album from iTunes and stick it on your iPhone; and you order a Michio Kaku book from Amazon. It’s broadband, it’s the Internet! It’s the future! Now, it’s one thing for the FCC to say, “This is what we’d like to see,” but it’s another thing for that to actually happen. The U.S. doesn’t have the best Internet infrastructure out there—yes, we’re not the best at something, don’t cry—and that could be for a number of reasons. One, the U.S. is pretty big. The best wired countries—the Netherlands, South Korea, Norway, places like that—aren’t very large to begin with, and they’re more urban. That is, the majority of the population lives in cities, unlike here in the U.S. where suburbs and exurbs dominate. There’s a reason why, having lived in and around New York my entire life, I go to other places in the country and think, “Man, this is what the rest of America looks like? This is weird .” Not bad, just different. New York might as well be Jupiter compared to Texas. Anyhow, cities are far easier to wire for broadband than Kansas. It’s often not worth the local Internet Service Provider’s time (and money!) to wire you and your neighbor’s house on Smith Street. But that’s why we need to think of broadband as infrastructure and not some silly little thing. Did we depend on private companies to construct the Inter-state Highway System? Why should broadband be any different? Will taxes go up to pay for this? I don’t know. I do know that I’d rather see tax dollars go to an improved broadband infrastructure rather than, say, bridges to nowhere or ridiculous corn subsidies. (I just saw Food, Inc. and I’m all worked up.) Let the record show that I already have 100 mbps broadband (well, 101 mbps!) and it’s really neat. I, for one, would like to see the U.S. embrace broadband rather than see it fight tooth and nail against progress —big government this, big government that. That’s such a tired argument. Flickr
&h=&q=90&w=90&h=65&zc=1" class="alignleft" alt="">
Up until a moment ago, this was going to be a standard “newsy” post: the FCC will announce its National Broadband Plan on Tuesday, here’s what it’s all about. Then I read the comments of a PC World article discussing that very same plan—many people are outraged that the government would muscle its way into the free market! If Americans wanted fast broadband then the market would provide it on its own terms. That, of course, is complete nonsense: plenty of Americans live in one-ISP towns, and if said ISP provides terrible service, well, though cookies, chico. This is America! Love it or leave it~! And really, the FCC isn’t doing anything particularly controversial, at least I don’t think it’s controversial. All it’s doing is saying, by 2020, we’d like to see 100 million homes (out of an estimated 130 million homes come 2020) have access to broadband with speeds of up to 100 mbps. Some people already have access to that type of Internet connection, myself included . Other ISPs, including universally loathed Comcast , plans to roll out 100 mbps service in the coming months. So it’s not like the FCC is making some sort of unreasonable demand: the market has already decided that it’s worth its while to deploy 100 mbps service all over the country. A cynic might say that the FCC knows this, that 100 mbps service is closer than you might otherwise think, and is merely latching itself onto the ISPs so that it can be all, “See, FCC = leadership.” But don’t be cynical, don’t hold grudges: while you’re holding a grudge, the other guy is dancing. I don’t know, I suppose it makes sense to get into this a bit more when the FCC actually makes the Plan public on Tuesday. But for now, all I have to say is: chill out. Not everything the government announces is tantamount to quartering British soldiers in your house without permission. I suppose I’m talking to people right now who actually believe, and understand, that a wired country is truly in the best interests of everyone.
&h=&q=90&w=90&h=65&zc=1" class="alignleft" alt="">
Get it? Fast car, fast Internet connection? I’m trying, folks, believe me. About a year ago I signed up for Cablevision’s Optimum Online Ultra , and aside from a little snafu that I’m trying to fix right now (don’t ask!), it’s been great. How could you go wrong with a reliable 100 mbps down/15 mbps up connection? Only $100/month, too. Other ISPs are getting close to offering similar speeds, thanks to Docsis 3.0 , but some people are wondering : will people even need that sort of speed, and if so, then for what? So, Cablevision already offers 100 mbps Internet connections for $100 per month. Verizon has fiber to the home, right now topping out at 50 mbps, but there’s capacity for up to 400 mbps. Even outright awful Comcast is getting in on the 100 mbps game, but so far they’ve been charging trial customers in Minnesota $370 per month. So, what I pay $100 for, Comcast wants $370. Makes sense. The point is, thanks to Docsis 3.0, even the worst ISPs will soon be able to offer 100 mbps connections. You’ll just have to be prepared to pay a little more than you’re used to. The FCC, which wants 100 million homes to have access to 100 mbps connections by 2020, must be happy. But, what do you do with that kind of speed? (Right now, people in South Korea and Sweden are laughing at us poor Americans for getting excited over a puny 100 mbps connection!) Like I said, I do a lot of Usenetting with Newsdemon —it’s Oscar season, what do you want? Well, if someone like Hulu or Netflix sees that’s X-Number of people now have 100 mbps connections, maybe they’ll start to offer higher-res content? Why offer something if nobody can use it? If you give people a fast Internet connection, they’ll find ways to put it to good use, believe me.
&h=&q=90&w=90&h=65&zc=1" class="alignleft" alt="">
According to the FCC, about 93 million Americans don’t use fast, broadband Internet, citing cost and complexity as a factor in their refusal to enter the 20th century. The study, below, found that 80 million adults and 13 million children either still use dial-up or don’t use the Internet at all at home, suggesting that either the survey methodology might be flawed or we’re in serious trouble. DOC-296442A1 Here’s the main focus: The Federal Communications Commission’s October- November 2009 survey finds that nearly two-thirds (65 percent) of American adults use high-speed Internet con- nections to go online from home. The FCC conducted a survey of 5,005 Americans in October and November 2009 in an effort to understand the state of broadband adoption and use, as well as barriers facing those who do not have broadband at home. The main findings are: ➤ 78 percent of adults are Internet users, whether that means broadband, dial-up, access from home or access from someplace other than home. ➤ 74 percent of adults have access at home. ➤ 67 percent of U.S. households contain a broadband user who accesses the service at home. ➤ 65 percent of adults are broadband adopters. The dis- crepancy of two percentage points between household and individual home use is because some survey respon- dents are nonbroadband users but live with someone who, at home, is. ➤ 6 percent of Americans use dial-up Internet connections as their main form of home access. ➤ 6 percent are Internet users but do not use it from home; they access the Internet from places such as work, the library or community centers. In a survey of 5,005 Americans – a fairly small sample, to be sure – found that college educated Americans earning $75K+ are most likely to have broadband while the lowest penetration is in folks over 65+ and Hispanics. While this is hardly a surprise, extrapolating out to get 93 million potential non-broadband users is slightly disconcerting. Sure, the jokes here write themselves (“Oh no! The old can’t use Facebook!”), the fact that broadband is out of reach for folks in lower-income brackets and for minorities creates another educational chasm we’re going to have to deal with sooner than later.
© 2012 Headline News. All Rights Reserved. Log in