Rural American Stranded in Dial-Up

[Muskie]

Link (https://www.wsj.com/articles/rural-america-is-stranded-in-the-dial-up-age-1497535841)

“Delivering up-to-date broadband service to distant reaches of the U.S. would cost hundreds of billions of dollars, experts estimate, an expense government, industry and consumers haven’t been willing to pay,” explains the item from Jennifer Levitz and Valerie Bauerlein. As a result, high-speed Internet access is either not available or ridiculously expensive in much of the country."


______________

[paulxu]

Maybe Musk will solve it. I think he's looking at satellite beamed internet.

[GoMuskies]

I thought HughesNet was already doing satellite internet. Is it no good?

[GoMuskies]

OK, now that I've read the article I see that Hughes Net just isn't competitive with other Internet services.

But what I REALLY got out of the article is that tiny Parsons, KS has produced Bill Guthridge, the current FCC chairman and the CFO of my business. OK, one of those three isn't like the others, but pretty impressive for a tiny little town like that.

[Emp]

..and even( long distance) rural health care is fading fast, with or without the ObamaCare repeal. Third World Rural 'Murika.

[Caveat]

I think sometimes we lose track of just how BIG the United States is, from a sheer land-mass area, and how empty it gets between major cities.

[GoMuskies]

I think sometimes we lose track of just how BIG the United States is, from a sheer land-mass area, and how empty it gets between major cities.

Those of us who live in Wichita and occasionally drive from here to anywhere else definitely do NOT lost track of that. :)

[Smooth]

Maybe Musk will solve it. I think he's looking at satellite beamed internet.

He'd better solve it by 2029. That is when I am getting the hell out of Dodge and heading for the boonies.

[paulxu]

That might cut down on your concubining.

[bobbiemcgee]

OK, now that I've read the article I see that Hughes Net just isn't competitive with other Internet services.

But what I REALLY got out of the article is that tiny Parsons, KS has produced Bill Guthridge, the current FCC chairman and the CFO of my business. OK, one of those three isn't like the others, but pretty impressive for a tiny little town like that.

and yet Parsons has dial-up.

[Snipe]

I think sometimes we lose track of just how BIG the United States is, from a sheer land-mass area, and how empty it gets between major cities.

I lived in Japan and went to some high school there, and it is densely populated. We used to come back every year to visit relatives and such on summer break. I rememeber not being able to sleep and looking out the window at the long stretches of wilderness where you could see no evidence of mankind. This really is a big country.

I vacationed down in Texas down in Corpus Christi one winter where my inlaws were "snowbirding". It was the year the women almost went to the Final Four in San Antonio. So it is Easter Sunday and I said lets drive to San Antonio. We can do the Riverwalk. The wife and kids are hungry, so I tell them that we can eat on the way. Let me tell you, there is nothing but some ranches, steer, and those famous horsehead oil pumps between the coast of Corpus Christi and San Antonio. It is only 2 hours, but it is a long and lonely two hours.

Now you can drive from the Nati to Toledo in 3 hours, but Jesus you will never ever be 10-15 minutes from the next town the whole ride. They are all over the place. Alas, the whole world is not like Ohio. Too bad about that, because I like Ohio. I think we should build a wall around Illinois, so when they collapse because of debt they can't come here as refugees.