How then do you explain the following, copied from the Foreign Affairs article?: "The United States' vastness no doubt complicates the task, but it is no excuse for not undertaking the job. (Canada, the world's second-largest state, also ranks second in global broadband connectivity.)" Open plains, deserts and forests still have people living in them, particularly now that people can choose to live away from cities and still stay connected. The Canadian experience seems to suggest that it's precisely because of vast geographical distances that communication technologies are needed to avoid isolation and stagnation............Alex Kuskis ----- Original Message ----- From: "Paul Chenoweth" <chenowethp@mail.belmont.edu> To: <air-l@listserv.aoir.org> Sent: Tuesday, May 03, 2005 6:53 AM Subject: Re: [Air-l] Down to the Wire
There is an element of geography that seems to have been removed from this equation. The measurement of broadband coverage in Korea and Japan is being compared on the same basis as the amount of physical (geographical) coverage in the US. Vast areas of open plains, deserts, national forests, etc. are included in the broadband measure...to countries where the population distribution is more compact and the land area is significanly smaller. The statistics make great headlines and wonderful 'sky is falling' rhetoric, but there is far less substance than the rankings imply.
IMHO, Paul Chenoweth, Web Developer Belmont University 615-460-6867
"Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things that you didn't do than by the ones you did do. So throw off the bowlines. Sail away from the safe harbor. Catch the trade winds in your sails. Explore. Dream. Discover." - Mark Twain
----- Original Message ----- From: Miraj Khaled <techiemik@yahoo.com> Date: Tuesday, May 3, 2005 0:54 am Subject: [Air-l] Down to the Wire
Down to the Wire http://www.foreignaffairs.org/20050501faessay84311/thomas- bleha/down-to-the-wire.html
Summary: Once a leader in Internet innovation, the United States has fallen far behind Japan and other Asian states in deploying broadband and the latest mobile-phone technology. This lag will cost it dearly. By outdoing the United States, Japan and its neighbors are positioning themselves to be the first states to reap the benefits of the broadband era: economic growth, increased productivity, and a better quality of life. Miraj Khaled ============ techiemik@yahoo.com mindexplorer.blogspot.com