U.S. Digital Divide Redux

According to some figures, 10% of the U.S. is still uncovered for basic internet access, but the majority of the 90% are behind the times , too, according to "Fiber Optic's Digital Divide: Only a Slice of U.S. Homes Will Have Access to Super-Fast Lines" by the AP's Peter Svensson.

while access to cable and phone-line broadband has spread to cover perhaps 90 percent of the country in the space of a decade, next-generation Internet access looks set to create a much smaller group of "haves" and a larger group of "have nots."

Svensson identifies a problem, but not much more. And I find it interesting that Svensson thinks that 10% of folks not even having the current lagging technology means the problem of the digital divide has been solved.

An interesting look at the ramifications of high speed internet not just for entertainment but civic engagement and business competitiveness can be found in this Speed Matters pamphlet by the Communications Workers of America, as well as at OMB Watch.








Some other stories of interest:

• China's Rush to Dispose of Dead Compounds Agony--New York Times
• How the "good war" could fail--The Economist
• Controversial Contractor's Iraq Work Is Split Up--NYT
• Why the Burmese Junta Failed to Respond to Cyclone Nargis--Irrawaddy