Bringing Internet to Rural Nepal

The man who is bringing Internet to rural Nepal.

His name is Mahabir Pun and he is an inspiration.

Things Have Changed

Telephone wires in Manhattan 1887.

Home Broadband 2015

Interesting information on the state of broadband in the US via the Pew Research Center.  The information can be a little misleading though. Yes it is easily understandable that many adults are switching from broadband to "smartphone only" - for people who grew up playing games on Nintendo Game Boy-like devices the screens on a smartphone are big enough for pretty much all needs. And why pay for both a cell bill and a broadband bill when money is tight and the smartphone can do pretty much all you need?

What I find misleading is the fact that people choosing a smartphone only life had the option to have broadband in the first place. That's not the case for many rural Americans.  How can you be part of the 15% of American adults that cut the cord if you never had a cord to begin with? I had particular issue with this passage:

Large numbers of non-broadband households have never had home high-speed service in the past, and few have interest in subscribing in the future.

Overall, 33% of American adults do not have broadband at home. Within this group of non-adopters, 36% had a subscription in the past, while 59% say they have never had a broadband subscription plan at home. In addition, just 25% of non-adopters are interested in subscribing to broadband service in the future, while 70% say they are not interested in doing so.

Communities that have never had broadband - either from cable or from incumbent telephone companies - those numbers would easily be inverted with 70% or greater wanting broadband service. Adults in communities without broadband could easily be counted as "smartphone only" because they have a smartphone they bring with them to work. The digital divide is a very real problem in this country.