USA #1 in broadband, time to start making bumperstickers!
By Joseph L. Flatley 
posted February 23rd 2009 6:53PM
posted February 23rd 2009 6:53PM
Great news, Americans! Despite all the naysayers with their "evidence" otherwise -- pointing out that South Korea has more broadband connections than we do, or that in some countries speeds are better than they are here -- the United States has come out at the head of the class. And that's before the government rolls out the "broadband stimulus" bonanza. According to Leonard Waverman (the dean of the prestigious Haskayne School of Business at the University of Calgary), Americans are not only the most productive users of connectivity, but our government's use of IT is as good as it is anywhere. Additionally, writes Saul Hansell in the New York Times, 57 percent of people in the country now have access to broadband, 9 percent have dial-up Internet access, 9 percent log on at work or at a library but not at home, and some 25 percent don't use the Internet at all -- one of whom said, "what do you want the Internet for? It's a fad -- just like CB radio in the '70s."
It sounds like: "if they can't do it, what hope is there for the rest of us".
*Disclaimer: According to some guy.
WOOHOO! Not.
A "fad" huh... want to lay odds that the majority of that 25% consists of uneducated people?
Did they count Amish and Rednecks??? :P
...Or the elderly?
That's a really good point - the elderly would make up a significant portion of that 25%.
@ Finnschi
I'm a broadband loving redneck.
It was quite a challenge for me to post this comment, but by the grace of my US based ISP and with a little help from one of my urban freinds I somehow managed.
BTW, if you are not a redneck it's not OK to use that term... starting now.
wow... did you post that via satellite???
lol jk :D
I'll believe we are number one when I actually get my 50mbps connection with a deccent upload speed, till then my record breaking 6mbps with 512kbps upload will just have to float america to the number 1 spot.
50 megs ,u ready to drop $199 month,?? Didnt't think so,. The reality is.
We may have the most connections, but we also get screwed the most from our crap ISP's.. We are also a 3rd world country when it comes to development. To many monopoly's here in the US that don't want to move forward with any new technology.
Too many monopolies? See anything wrong with that statement?
"To many monopoly's here in the US that don't want to move forward with any new technology."
yea I hate when there are like 20 monopolies controlling my broadband connect :(
/oxymoron... emphasis on the moron.
I believe what MrGutts means is that there are too many different monopolies in different businesses.
Like Victoria's Secret.
Without any real competition, there is no innovation, and my girlfriend's ta-ta's will never get the support they need.
@Eric
thats what hands are for
Only true monopoly left in USA,is cable. U don't have a choice when it comes to coaxial cable ISP in USA officially. All telephone companys were derregulated in late 90's., example per household u can only get 1 cable company n nothing else,. Either timewarner, adelphoa ,comcast , cox. U don't have a choice when it comes to cable in USA.
"It's a fad -- just like CB radio in the '70s."
10-4 good buddy!
The US being first in economic productivity is nothing new. But as the article notes, its not that the internet is faster or has better coverage, people are just making more use out of it. "And while wired and wireless broadband networks used by consumers lagged other countries, the United States ranked No. 1 in the world for technology use and skills by consumers." There's still a lot of improvements to be made to the home internet infrastructure - or the mobile internet infrastructure.
I would overall agree. Back home in Hong Kong, 3G networks were up and bugs ironed out long before EVDO or HSDPA became commonplace in the US. But it was the US that made the Blackberries and iPhones popular while us Asians were still kind of going "um... 3G is used to make... video calls with messy hair ... umm... or ... watch soccer.... um...."
Haha 57% coverage for the americans,
take a trip over to Europe and start crying your eyes out.
ÅÄÖ!
Just like is CONSTANTLY pointed out, with cell phone network coverage. there are 10,180,000 km^2 in Europe, and 731,000,000 inhabitants of said continent. The USA on the other hand (not even North America, which would make my point SO much better, but I'll use your reference locations) has 9,826,630 km^2 and 305,868,000, giving population densities of 70/km^2 and 31/km^. So, in case you can't do the abstract math yourself, in roughly equal land areas (Europe is SLIGHTLY larger), there are over TWICE as many people in Europe. Of course it is easier to cover everyone. There are very few places in Europe where you can drive 18 hours without hitting a population center. There is a third of the US where you can do the same. The US, thanks to it's wide open spaces is never going to be as wired as Europe. But, I for one am OK with that. I live in the NY metro area, and I can get a cell signal or broadband, or take-out Chinese food wherever and whenever I want. If I choose to live in Wyoming on a cattle ranch, I have made a choice to be isolated. And guess what, there is a better chance that rancher has pretty good coverage with Verizon than a Sami reindeer herder in Norway has with Telenor.
Anyway, my point being comparing coverage with cell phones, broadband, or any such penetration studies are basically like comparing apples and oranges. The population makeup is just so different.
In case you were wondering, for all of North America (including Canada, USA, Mexico, Central American Countries and Caribbean), density is 22.9/km^2.
LOVE THE HAT! Can this be part of a giveaway? Purleeeeze... it's just too good.
However, this being America, I am pretty sure a large number of American readers never noticed the irony.
yea, they wish
http://www.swiss-miss.com/2009/01/top-10-countries-by-robot-density.html
USA is getting pwned on the robot front
Wonder if att DSL at $10 has anything to do with that,,.??!!
Typical of Engadget and its readers. They never really read the actual article. The report is about how the US utilizes broadband or other technology (the report is pretty broad in what it includes) the most for business. It has absolutely nothing to do with broadband quality or penetration.
American Idol has the most viewers of any show on television.
I guess that means the show must be the best quality on television.
You see what I did there?
I wouldn't necessarily disbelieve this report. South Korea may have more "broadband connections" than we do, but I can guarantee that many, many more are being used for Starcraft 24/7 than even the most dedicated American porn-hounds can fathom utilizing... Also, porn is more productive than Starcraft.
Top 10 countries in robots --
Interestingly enough, all of the countries on the list except the US has a fertility rate below 2.00 -- that is below replacement.
Umm, they need those robots. As in, in 15 years it's "robot or die."
Anybody find it odd that statistics from June 2007 rank the USA as having in the region of 22% Total Coverage and this article implies 57%?
Tbh, I think that this is creative accounting - And not altogether well hidden.
http://www.oecd.org/document/60/0,3343,en_2649_34225_39574076_1_1_1_1,00.html
I'm sitting here in Sweden, enjoying my unlimited 50Mb down/10Mb up connection for ~$34 a month.
But then I pay 30% tax, so they better give me a good deal on internet..
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The linked article and the study itself is full of bull. The admit outright, that USA actually doesn't have the best broadband:
"It’s certainly true that in some countries, like South Korea, far more homes have broadband connections than in the United States. And the speeds in some countries are far higher than is typical here."
But, as they put it, "there are many ways to measure the bandwidth wealth of nations." Later in the article the author states that "[...] the United States ranked No. 1 in the world for technology use and skills by consumers." Oh, right. So what did they actually measure?
"This was measured by comparing countries on five measures: The penetration of Internet use, penetration of Internet banking, wired and wireless voice minutes per capita, SMS messages per capita, and consumer software spending."
So as you can see, US has the best broadband, because its citizens talk a lot on the phone, send a lot of SMS and spend the most on software.
What I found saddening, though not really surprising, is that not only Engadget _readers_ don't read the linked articles, but Engadget _editors_ don't do that either.
Yes, we have more broadband. Sadly, it is at some of the slowest speeds in the world for the money. And our cell phone systems cannot remotely perform the functions we see in other countries, especially in Asia and Europe.
Their public-private partnerships have them living in the tech 21st century. Our corporatist, lazy fairy scheme has us living in the tech late 1990s, at best. USA! USA!
They used:
"This was measured by comparing countries on five measures: The penetration of Internet use, penetration of Internet banking, wired and wireless voice minutes per capita, SMS messages per capita, and consumer software spending."
Doesn't spending on software indicate that you don't know how to use broadband? ;)
Also I think some european countries beat the US no matter how hopeful and wishful you tweak the numbers if you use connectivity, because I know for a fact that some countries have a broadband penetration higher than 75% (quoted for the US) of the households for instance
However if you count innovation and variety of uses too, then the US would probably win hands down, although I'm not sure about the situation in asia.
Oh and incidentally, how can they use number for 2009 when we are only 2 months in?
You better watch out covering Steve Rogers up like that...
He's gonna put that shield somewhere you won't like.
USA! Hurray for the magic of statistics.
I recently heard a story that confirmed that this is completely meaningless.
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