The irrelevance of broadband

Many of us live in the breathless world of high tech where each advancement in tablets, phones, and social media services floods our reading queue. We click the Update button, waiting for the next release of IOS or Android. We scoff when a company's new phone has just a single-core processor. We talk to Siri like she's a sister from another mother.

Last night, I attended a presentation by the folks from the Massachusetts Broadband Institute. Their project is quite simply stunning: bring lots of fiber-optic connectivity to the unserved and underserved communities throughout the state. Even with two tornadoes, a hurricane, and an October snowstorm ("Mother Nature hates broadband," quipped MBI director, Judy Dumont.), they're still on target to ensure that, in a couple of years, all people of our fair Commonwealth can have access to fast pipes. (Take a look at the MBI's web site for details about the many facets of the program.)

Then, the hard work begins.

Americans who did not use the Internet at all – whether inside or outside the home – most commonly cited lack of interest or need as the primary reason.

via Exploring the Digital Divide | BroadbandUSA - NTIA

The Digital Divide is a series of fractures. There's the very real issue of money, of course. Even with Comcast's new $9.99 program, computers with the requisite software are out of reach for many. If it was just a matter of money, though, it'd be pretty simple.  More than a third of the people who do not have home broadband reported that, more than cost, didn't think that it was relevant to their lives.

[caption id="attachment_2809" align="aligncenter" width="600" caption="Main Reason for Non-Adoption of Home Broadband Internet, 2009 (National Telecommunications and Information Administration report)"][/caption]

Irrelevance was cited by 50% more people than those who were said that money was the issue.  The full report (PDF) is here.

In future pieces, I'm going to try to figure out what's going on here.

Some seems obvious.  The Internet, as portrayed in the public discussions, is a dangerous place where bad people want to steal your identity, money, and children. Those of us who've mucked around the 'tubes for a while know what a tremendous time sink all this can be, how it can isolate us even as it calls us to be more social.

There's a bit of research starting to surface about how adults learn how to use computers and networking, research that should embarrass user-interface engineers for hardware and software products, including and especially Apple.

The theory that is mine, however, is that there are a few other things going on. Mostly, they relate to how we view work and education, how our businesses adapt to change, how we, as individuals, learn or don't learn because of intrinsic and extrinsic reasons, and a lot about fear.  I'll come back to these ideas soon. In the meantime, take a look at what the MBI is doing and imagine how this can change things, if not for us, then for our grandkids.