smoketetsuo (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
smoketetsuo) wrote2008-06-25 10:55 pm
smoketetsuo) wrote2008-06-25 10:55 pm
Broadand in the USA...
This article talks about how we should have universal gigabit broadband in the US by 2015. It says that we are behind a lot of countries when it comes to broadband and I believe it. I mean I've seen quite a few places that talk about it and for example.. my neighborhood has just got 1.5Mbps DSL just recently. Sure it's better than dial-up and satellite but it's still behind what most others have... especially in other countries like Japan.
They say the only two things we have for next gen internet access are Fiber Optic To the Premises (FiOS) and a newer version of DOCSIS (3.0) the technology behind cable modems. Neither of which are being deployed in any kind of hurry. Over here we have fiber optics almost to the premises except the fiber only runs to the big box across the street and we are hooked up to it via conventional wires so we only can take advantage of it using either analog telephone or (recently) DSL.. not FiOS. My phone company (Qwest) doesn't seem to be interested in it either.
I know quite a few people think what we have is good enough and don't see any reason for advancement but with more and more things going online and applications we haven't even thought of yet not to mention being left behind by other countries I think I would like to see broadband advance in the US. Particularly its penetration into rural areas. Wireless radio internet may help in that arena but I don't think it's the only answer. With fiber being rolled out in a lot of rural areas like mine I think we should be able to take even better advantage of it than we do now. DOCSIS 3.0 wouldn't do me any good. Cable doesn't seem to reach my neighborhood at all.
Even casting a vision for broadband would be useful, but "the current Administration in Washington has simply refused to come to grips with the reality of America's descent into mediocrity on almost every internationally-recognized indicator of success in broadband deployment."
I know the cable companies and satellite TV companies may not like it if we all got gigabit internet in our houses and we started using the internet for all our media wants\needs. But it would be great even if only to get away from those stupid Enzyte or GGW commercials. ;)
I've been watching quite a few videos on hulu.com and that site seems to be pretty easy to use and well made. They've got quite a few good TV series available to watch online that are good and it seems to work even better than joost did. Joost required you download a client which was pretty buggy, flaky and didn't even run on my Mac (I only experienced it on a PC). The only complaint I have against Hulu is that since it uses flash it takes more CPU power to play a standard resolution video than it takes to play that same video as a .avi or a DVD.
They say the only two things we have for next gen internet access are Fiber Optic To the Premises (FiOS) and a newer version of DOCSIS (3.0) the technology behind cable modems. Neither of which are being deployed in any kind of hurry. Over here we have fiber optics almost to the premises except the fiber only runs to the big box across the street and we are hooked up to it via conventional wires so we only can take advantage of it using either analog telephone or (recently) DSL.. not FiOS. My phone company (Qwest) doesn't seem to be interested in it either.
I know quite a few people think what we have is good enough and don't see any reason for advancement but with more and more things going online and applications we haven't even thought of yet not to mention being left behind by other countries I think I would like to see broadband advance in the US. Particularly its penetration into rural areas. Wireless radio internet may help in that arena but I don't think it's the only answer. With fiber being rolled out in a lot of rural areas like mine I think we should be able to take even better advantage of it than we do now. DOCSIS 3.0 wouldn't do me any good. Cable doesn't seem to reach my neighborhood at all.
I know the cable companies and satellite TV companies may not like it if we all got gigabit internet in our houses and we started using the internet for all our media wants\needs. But it would be great even if only to get away from those stupid Enzyte or GGW commercials. ;)
I've been watching quite a few videos on hulu.com and that site seems to be pretty easy to use and well made. They've got quite a few good TV series available to watch online that are good and it seems to work even better than joost did. Joost required you download a client which was pretty buggy, flaky and didn't even run on my Mac (I only experienced it on a PC). The only complaint I have against Hulu is that since it uses flash it takes more CPU power to play a standard resolution video than it takes to play that same video as a .avi or a DVD.