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- oriondarkwood, on 10/11/2007, -38/+348Another reason why we are quickly becoming a 3rd rate nation.. WAKE UP SHEEP GRAB YER BALLS AND USE THEM
In order to be the great nation we where in the last century we need the following ASAP
60 Mbps or better connection speeds
IPv6
Netural Net FOREVER
SSL/Blowfish level encripytion on any site selling items / VOIP / Google
Tax breaks for having computers with up to date spyware/adware/spamguard/anti-virus software
Better Cell phones (in Asia you can surf the web, bank, get stuff from vending machines, buy subway tokens etc.. with your cell phone) - masterkenobi, on 10/11/2007, -5/+248Man 60Mbps, that's a lot of...recreational videos...
- Error601, on 10/11/2007, -35/+174Is this another clueless article that doesn't understand the economy of population density in communication technology? Or the timing effects of infrastructure where whoever gets their first will end up being behind due to replacement cost?
- TheFinaleofSeem, on 10/11/2007, -10/+96Well, Japan's internet speeds are driven higher by demand for instant tentacle porn-schoolgirl videos. You gotta have a lot of bandwidth to stream that in HD.
- member57, on 10/11/2007, -5/+89$200 billion taxpayer fraud, we were supposed to have at least a 10Mbps connection by now. The Government subsidized the communication companies to do this in 1997 and be completed by 2005-2006. I still sit at 1.5Mbps..... Exactly the same speed as 6 years ago....
- fober, on 10/11/2007, -19/+103FYI USATODAY
Japan is an island ~the size of California.
(Why do you think Rhode Island is fastest in the US?) - f4nt0m4s, on 10/11/2007, -2/+66ohhh...the dial up days...
back then looking at porn was a mystery. the image would slowly load...and you never did know what the bottom of the picture would yield. good times.... - hrhs556x, on 10/11/2007, -4/+67hey you know what, every time this comes up I always thank god that were still not in the Dial-up era. I'll take Massachusetts' 3.004M connection any day over dial-up.
- unusualbob, on 10/11/2007, -2/+62I have been sending emails to RR about this for about 6 months, hopefully if more people do it then they can change things.
- inactive, on 10/11/2007, -2/+60This is pathetic, we need some more competition in ISP's, but AT&T is buying out every company.
- swizzcheez, on 10/11/2007, -6/+52FTFUA:
"Speed matters on the Internet. A 10-megabyte file takes about 15 seconds to download with a 5-megabit connection — fast for the USA. Download time with a 545-kilobit connection, about the entry-level speed in many areas: almost 2½ hours."
Hmmm, 10000000 * 8 (10 Megabytes expressed in bits) / 545000 (bits per second, we'll skip protocol overhead, etc) = about 147 seconds. That's 2.5 minutes, not 2.5 hours. Still slow, but not dial up slow for crissake. - arenz003, on 10/11/2007, -0/+35Trying? They are years ahead of us in communications.
- tatltat, on 10/11/2007, -5/+39Maybe Japan is compensating?
- tdkme, on 10/11/2007, -3/+33but all the telco's received billions of dollars in tax breaks to make us all fiber wired by last year and never did. so shouldn't they have to pay it back or get us there?
- ZennZero, on 10/11/2007, -1/+30There is a virtual monopoly on broadband in most US markets. I know I only have two choices -- cable from one company or DSL from another (satellite is not a realistic option for many people). Why invest the money to improve infrastructure if your customers are locked in with 1-2 options?
- sleepyness, on 10/11/2007, -6/+34Or the greedy teleco/cable companie? You sir are naive.
Population density is still decently high in most major US cities yet only only in New England/DFW/LA, etc, do you see FIOS. What about all the other cities?
The teleco/cable companies agree between themselves and zone out the entire US, keeping competition at a minimum thereby not really having to raise their speeds all the while gaining government subsidies and charging $50 for 5/384 or what not to maximize profit. The teleco/cable companies surely have the money to do it, but as there is no incentive, they don't. Verizon FIOS is paving the way, but still very slowly.
It's a sad state of affairs regarding broadband in the US. - jhnewt, on 10/11/2007, -3/+31Population density? Canada which, last I checked, has a lower population and more land area has over 3 times the median download rate of the US.
- sikosmurf, on 10/11/2007, -2/+29This is not something you can agree or disagree with. Imagine instead of telling them a 4 series of up to 3 numbers, you don't tell them anything, because you have no IP, because they ran out of IPv4 numbers to give.
- logicalnoise, on 10/11/2007, -2/+28whats sad is I finally got my phone line repaired so I could get my full 1.5 Mbps and that still seems fast to me....sigh.
- codyfrisch, on 10/11/2007, -18/+41Show me where in the U.S. Constitution the Federal Government has the power to ensure we get broadband of a certain speed? What needs to happen is the policymakers need to get as FAR AWAY FROM IT AS THEY CAN, and let the markets sort it out. If the people don't demand it, its our job to tell them why they should. But its not our job to have the government do everything for us!
- TheFinaleofSeem, on 10/11/2007, -1/+24Um, how the hell do you plan on enforcing the tax breaks for having an up-to-date computer with anti-malware on it? Please. The best you could hope for is people taking their computers into the shop around the time they file their taxes to have some techie do it.
- kuzotz, on 10/11/2007, -3/+25what is considered nerdy in the US is something that the rest of the world gets. Then hell I'm leaving the US. When it comes to electronics the US is the worse market for it. We don't even get the great features that other countries get until 5 years later.
it isn't that the rest of the world is nerdy its that the rest of the world takes advantage of advance technologies which drives that market to innovate more and more. While here companies tend to just want to cooperate more so than compete and innovate. - brufleth, on 10/11/2007, -0/+22Exactly. There will no doubt be someone who responds to your comment with YOU DON"T KNOW WHAT MONOPOLIES R LOLOLO but you are 100% correct. The way contracts are worked out with cable companies and counties and such there is rarely if ever a choice between more than 2 high speed options. Usually you have a cable company and a phone company offering cable and DSL internet service and that's it. Think back to how much you or your parents paid for cable internet 15 years ago (if you had it). The prices have only gone up but the service hasn't changed. In fact in many places it gets worse as more people join the shared neighborhood connection (cable internet only). Since I can't shop around for faster/cheaper options they can charge whatever they want as long as it isn't so extreme I choose to go without internet access at all.
The other excuse someone will quickly give is "The United States is much larger than Japan!!!!!!11111" That's also a BS excuse. The US has many large cities and urban centers. There is no reason those centers couldn't be as well connected as Japan. The customer base is there with the demand. The supply just never comes because profits do better when you simply charge more without changing the service.
The reason cell phone service is relatively so cheap (to the point that many people opt for just a cell phone and have no land line) is because carriers compete with each other. They offer lower rates or more services. With high speed internet access you have a complete stagnation of services. What's the fiscal motivation to spend money on improving services if customers have no other choices? - scooterbaga, on 10/11/2007, -5/+27That number HAS to be skewed by university speeds or something. There's some really high numbers in little private clustered areas that throw off the average. While the rest of the country sits with 512K down.
- masterkenobi, on 10/11/2007, -5/+27Dude, we're not talking 6.1Mbps. Carry over the decimal once buddy, we're talking 61 Mbps!!! SIXTY ONE!!!!
Even compared to our "fastest" state, we are considered snail speeds to them. - ahawks, on 10/11/2007, -2/+22No... for america to stay/return to the great country we were, we need:
Smaller government
More freedoms back. Less pants-wetting over terrorism
***Better educational system
We, as citizens, need to lose the victim mentality as well as the concept that the world revolves around us as individuals. The American Dream used to be a modest home, a healthy family, and a good rewarding job. Now it's a house that can only be paid for by 2 mortgages and 2 incomes, 2-3 cars you can't afford, home theater, and a few credit cards maxed out.
A few technical improvements like ipv6 or download rate don't make an ounce of difference if your country's political, social and economic systems are goin to *****. - MercedRocks, on 10/11/2007, -2/+22Actually it looks like Rhode Island is #1 @ 5.011Mbps
- RationalBeaver, on 10/11/2007, -0/+17Sometimes subtle is funny, you stupid wanker.
- Chandon, on 10/11/2007, -5/+22If the fact that Japan is only the size of California is what's doing this, then why don't the people in California have speeds like that?
- Asianwaste, on 10/11/2007, -4/+21I was stationed in Japan for a couple of years. You pay nearly twice as much per month for a service that gets badly congested during 4 PM - 10 PM. Then try living in a house with no insulation. It's damn cold during the winter and I can hear my neighbors complain about the weather. It's not as peachy as you think over there.
- EBFoxbat, on 10/11/2007, -3/+20That's OK, I'm still taller.
- gcnaddict, on 10/11/2007, -0/+16Blowfish is terrible. Rijndael 256 mandatory.
- jouissance, on 10/11/2007, -0/+16BIGGER TUBES = BIGGER DUMP TRUCKS = FASTER INTARWEBS
- Hooj, on 10/11/2007, -0/+16I suffer from the same plight Zenn. We have Adelphia (now Comcast) and AT&T. I have a 6mb/sec line and the d/l speeds rarely get above 4mb/sec. When I had 3mb/sec they barely got above 2.2mb/sec. Pretty damn pathetic.
- Eivo, on 10/11/2007, -1/+17*squints*
What is that on your avatar ripstuntz? - unusualbob, on 10/11/2007, -1/+16use a free DNS?
- jhnewt, on 10/11/2007, -1/+16Canada is also faster than the US by over 3 times and they're a bit larger than California.
- EarlOfLade, on 10/11/2007, -3/+18Density? ROFLMAO!
I guess that in New York City, you can get 200Mb/s for $20/month then? I mean the density in the New York area is pretty high.. - sigma419, on 10/11/2007, -3/+17Rhode Island isn't an island. Neither is Japan; it's an archipelago.
- Chandon, on 10/11/2007, -0/+14That's the excuse that everyone uses in every discussion on this topic, and it's utter *****.
Canada is more spread out overall than the United States is, and they have faster speeds. Finland has a lower average population density than the USA, and they have faster speeds. Hell, the USA has some areas with truly massive population density like Manhattan, and even there it's impossible to get a connection as fast as what the average European has access to.
When it comes to internet connectivity, the USA is embarrassingly behind due to a horribly screwed up telecom market that's been made worse for 20 years by continuing bad government policy. You can even get a faster connection for cheaper in countries like Lithuania and the Czech republic than you can get here in the USA. - member57, on 10/11/2007, -0/+14If the government gives the comm companies $200 billion, I expect the people should be concerned. They bitched about the cost and good ole' Uncle Sam opened his pockets, they got money for doin' nothing and we the tax payers got screwed.
- peacebyanymeans, on 10/11/2007, -1/+143.2Mbps for me...
At least it's better than the U.S. Average...
Damn cable companies... - sdub74, on 10/11/2007, -0/+12Canada is pretty spread out also, and they're getting 7mbps average. There's just too much bureaucracy in the US. We have the ability (FiOS) but not the infrastructure to make it work, and with all the different companies involved in getting a fiber optic line to my house, nothing gets done.
- 0xbaadf00d, on 10/11/2007, -2/+14"unless quick action is taken by public-policymakers"
Of course... Because only public-policymakers can improve society... Because they have proven to be so good at it... - frogpelt, on 10/11/2007, -1/+13Dude! Quit sending so many e-mails!
You're killing my download times! - aegis9975, on 10/11/2007, -1/+13So why isn't the Island of Manhattan (with massive population density and tons of money) faster. Also, why is densely populated cities in California still getting speeds Japan got a decade ago, especially it being the world's 7th largest economy and being that's where Silicon Valley is located. How about the fact that its not just Japan that gets 100Mbs+ speeds for dirt cheap, its also S. Korea, many parts of Europe and Asia.
It has less to do with population density then it does to do with infrastructure and cable/telcos that can get away with charging consumers ass loads of money for sub-par speeds. - brufleth, on 10/11/2007, -0/+12...and public transportation, and public behavior, and many other things.
In fairness they also have a very high suicide rate due in large part to extremely high stress levels stemming from an over zealous work ethic. Still an amazing country that I'd high recommend visiting if you ever have the chance. - schnikies79, on 10/11/2007, -1/+12Dial-up is the only option for me. I do live in a rural area but I'm only 30mins for a major city. Oh well.
- Starfury, on 10/11/2007, -2/+13Nothing but 26.4k dial-up and satellite where I live. Still waiting on those last mile solutions to materialize....
- bendedavis, on 10/11/2007, -0/+11I could only deal with 2Mb down if they gave me 2Mb up as well.
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