Surveying CES

By Brad

At CES last week, we conducted an informal survey asking attendees how the government should ensure universal broadband availability and adoption. The results offered an interesting snapshot of how tech-savvy crowd viewed the issue.

Of the 259 people who took the survey, 31% picked “Minimize regulation, taxation and government oversight of innovators, entrepreneurs, and private companies” as most important. 19% picked “Reduce taxes on telecom services that are naked into consumers’ broadband bills.” And “Reform Universal Service rules to start subsidizing broadband and stop subsidizing plain old telephone service” was chosen by 15%.

Rounding out the survey, 8% of survey takers felt it was most important that the government should pass net neutrality regulations, while just 6% supported digital literacy for the poor and communities of color.

IIA in the News: Fox 11 LA Talks with David Sutphen

By IIA

IIA CES Blog Contest Winner Steven

By IIA

Dispatches from CES (Day 4)

By IIA

As part of IIA’s involvement in CES, we’re asking attendees to write about what broadband access means to their daily lives. Throughout the convention, we’ll be posting some the responses we receive

I use broadband all the time. It’s important to me in the instance of being my daily internet source. Being a Swede, I’m used to fast broadband internet. I have, for example, experienced the world’s fastest broadband internet; Swedish Telia, during the world’s biggest computer festival,  Dreamhack. Dreamhack is an event like nothing else: seeing more than 12.000 gamers being connected at the same time to different online games is really awe-inspiring.

Having a fast internet connection makes a big difference! I love broadband because it never lets me down. My household in Sweden has a broadband connection with 100 Mb/s via fiber optic cable. When I first got this a few years ago I was shocked: I had never experienced anything like it! It was fast, it delivered every time, it almost never froze (if it did it, the connection probably wasn’t the problem… darn computer!), and it made it so much easier for me to keep contact with family members across the world. I could finally talk to my sister, who lived in New Zealand at the time, without all problems I had before. This broadband still helps me out every time I talk to my family home in Sweden, something I didn’t think about before I left for my exchange-student year, but something I am very grateful for now.

I look forward to see future improvements in the broadband technology. It’s not because I want it to get better, for it is already great, but merely because of the fact that I want to see how fast a private household connection via broadband can get. I have both high hopes and high expectations for its future.

— Carl

I use broadband Internet a lot. I use it to talk to my friends and family through Skype. Sometimes I play games over the Internet, or I just watch some movies, etc. .. I use it really often.  In my opinion it is really important to invest to make a better coverage with broadband internet etc. because it makes lots of things really faster and more simple. Like for example I am from Slovakia and there is quite problem to get a fast Internet in some small towns (villages). Now in this time, almost everybody has a computer and I can’t imagine to use it without broadband Internet connection.

— Marek

At the moment I am an exchange student in Las Vegas. Here we have an awesome Internet connection with broadband. Where I cmole from in Germany, our connection is not the best, but still pretty good. But it cannot reach the broadband Internet I am used to since I am living here. Everything is way faster, so that you can upload new pictures to Facebook, while you are skype with friends on the other side of the world. It makes it comfortable and does not stress you out. Another thing for which you can use it is for the online gaming. BWA makes World of Warcraft or similar games way more fun to play.

To invest in broadband, in my opinion, very important, because Internet is the connection of the future and with broadband, it does not matter if your friend lives next door or on another continent. It just connects, wherever you are. That’s why I would support bringing broadband to every corner of the earth. Everyone should have the possibility to enjoy it J.

I think I couldn’t live without broadband anymore because it really makes using the Internet so much easier and faster. If I wouldn’t have it, I think I would feel back in time.

— Robert H.

Dispatches from CES (Day 3)

By IIA

As part of IIA’s involvement in CES, we’re asking attendees to write about what broadband access means to their daily lives. Throughout the convention, we’ll be posting some the responses we receive

This is America. We expect clean running water all the time. Electricity is always on. This is not a land of rationing. Utilities are for everyone. Internet access is not a future utility, it is a now utility. Broadband access is our always-on life line.
Because dial access was initially our widespread Internet access, we developed habits of limits. Limits in accessibility, limits in bandwidth, and limits in availability have led to a position of poverty in extracting the value of the Internet. Always on availability of broadband can free our creativity.
America is a land of innovation and efficiency. Broadband is the tool we need to maintain competitive position in a fast changing technology-driven world. It is the most important utility of the future- and now. We cannot wait.
—- Ed

I, personally, use broadband to basically keep myself updated on the world around me.  If I am without Internet for even a day, I feel completely disconnected.  While many broadband “naysayers” would like to say that this makes me a child of the “i-Generation,” and that it’s sad that the loss of such a privilege as the Internet can make one feel so lost, I strongly disagree.  Science and technology have given us the gift of access to billions of different sources of information through hundreds of different forms of media, and it would be a shame — no, a crime — not to take advantage of that.  But, the only downside of this huge advantage is the fact that it can put some people, those without access to broadband Internet, at a disadvantage.  Students get ahead of others in classes, employees get ahead of their coworkers, and basically, in the arms race to be the best and the brightest in today’s technological society, it is impossible to succeed without a tremendous amount of experience interacting with the world wide web.  So what does all this mean? It means that America needs to buckle down and help to provide broadband services to all citizens, regardless of race, income, or geographical location.  Only then can we call America “the greatest country on earth.”

—- Robert

The possibility of universal broad band is endless. It can connect people, and polices of the world that never would have interacted. The problems of the world come from ignorance, and ignorance is relived when you sit in another person’s chair, or walk in their shoes. It can help people go across neighborhoods, cities, countries, and oceans. Letting people learn about their fellow man, and learning about other customs, and beliefs, may help eliminate many conflicts.

The Internet has helped me greatly expand my potential. If I am having problems with a math problem, I can look online and somewhere somebody has posted a walkthrough, and tips to look for to solve the question. When I need to write a paper, I can research different point of views, and make my own opinion. I can look up videos of other cultures, and expose myself to things I never would have seen. Things such as yhe Iranian protests, or the worlds reaction to Obama being elected president. The media isn’t the best in fair news, and the internet acts as a linkage institution from one person with a voice to another.

—- Steve I.

Dispatches from CES (Day 2)

By IIA

As part of IIA’s involvement in CES, we’re asking attendees to write about what broadband access means to their daily lives. Throughout the convention, we’ll be posting some the responses we receive

I remember when I saw the first commercial for “broadband” high-speed Internet. All I actually remember about it was there was something about football players and watching them online. I can’t say that back then I honestly knew what broadband was, but I did know what the Internet was and was a daily user. I remember having to unplug the phone jack from the wall and physically switch from the telephone to the Internet. Then we waited. “Weeeee wahhh weeee wahhh bussssssssh kaack akck meeeeeeeeeeppppp brrauuunnnt.” We would make my mom so mad because she would be expecting a call and we would be playing some laggy video game on our sweet dial-up connection. Even at a younger age, I was completely aware and annoyed by the speed, or lack thereof, and inconvenience of my families dial up connection.
In 2000 my father became the editor of a small town weekly newspaper in very rural Arkansas. From the day he started until December 2009 he had been operating an entire newspaper using a dial-up connection. It is all he had so he made it work. Me seeing this from a “High Flyer” in the broadband community, I had always found it extremely frustrating to watch him work the way he did when I knew that just by having a broadband connection it would change his paper completely. Just having the option. After asking questions I found that the reason he didn’t have a broadband connection was that the company he works for didn’t want to pay to have someone drive out to rural Arkansas to install it. That’s it — just to install it. Finally, this December his new publisher took a trip to visit the Newton County Times and realized what he had accomplished without a broadband connection. Within one full business day the new publisher had broadband Internet and office telephones installed in the office. He was blown away that this paper was being put together without a broadband connection.
The sad thing to me is that he is the only office in the area with broadband. I can only imagine how the lives of those people would change if they too had the world at their finger tips. I personally spend at least 12 hours online. My life almost depends on some kind of connection. Having the ability to access any information at anytime is no longer “cool” it is necessary for me to accomplish some of the most important tasks of my daily life. I think there should be some incentive towards getting broadband into more rural areas it’s not fair that our lives are easier and they can’t even get anyone to come to their home and install the internet.

— Anne

As a full time telecommuter I would not be able to function without broadband. I communicate regularly using an IP Phone, web presentations and web video to clients across the country and Europe. Sending large presentations would not be efficient nor possible without broadband. Personally, I like the access that broadband gives me to watch video and listen to music streaming from my home server to my phone and computer no matter where I am located. 
— JW Hunt

The Internet has accelerated both the business and social worlds. Technology is making human organization and collaboration much easier and cheaper. From the millions of people keeping in touch with friends on Facebook to the masses using Google applications, it’s clear our future is online. The US government has used the web to make our government more transparent and share it’s wealth of knowledge and data. People can file their taxes instantly.

However, not everyone has access to these tools, and so organizations and government must hold on to the more expensive and slower means of mass communication. If broadband Internet access were treated as a human right, we could leave this old technology behind and greatly simplify our organization as a society. Everyone could have the same instant access to emerging online education programs, enormous libraries of public domain books and films, and a wealth of open source creativity software.

Despite its ubiquity, the Internet is still in its youth. We’ve barely scratched the surface of its capabilities, and as it continues to grow we have seen that there’s no end to the possibilities. But as it grows, we’ll need to be able to transmit more information at a higher rate. Without the government’s support of a new broadband infrastructure, the rate of public innovation will be held back. It’s clear that our future is in the free exchange of information, so our time and resources need to be allocated accordingly.

— Charlie

Dispatches from CES — Day 1 Blog Winner!

By IIA

As part of IIA’s involvement in CES, we’re asking attendees to write about what broadband access means to their daily lives. Throughout the convention, we’ll be posting some the responses we receive.

Aditya Saraf was yesterday’s winner in our Broadband Blog contest at Supercomm. For the winning entry, Aditya received an iPod!

Here’s Aditya’s entry:

More than the technology aspect what broadband means to me is that I am CONNECTED — with family, with friends, with office. It is extremely important in today’s world to be connected ANYWHERE ANYTIME, to have information available ANYWHERE ANYTIME.

As business people we all know the importance of having information available to us all the time, whether it is the latest stock information, who bought whom. And this can no better be understood than by a farmer in a remote village in Uttar Pradesh in India, who can check weather forecasts to determine the correct time to sow, can check prices of foodgrains and can even connect to buyers.

Broadband connectivity can change the way we lead our lives. It is not about technology only, it is about how it brings people across the world closer.

— Aditya

Highway Internet

By Brad

At CES yesterday, Ford Motor Co. unveiled a new feature for its vehicles: the Internet. From the LA Times:

At the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas, Ford Chief Executive Alan Mulally showed off how consumers could soon catch up on Twitter, listen to Internet radio, check movie times and get free maps with turn-by-turn directions, using Sync’s voice commands or 8-inch color touch-screen in the dashboard, in Ford’s spring lineup of cars.

Today’s Internet consumer: always connected.

Dispatches from CES (Day 1)

By IIA

As part of IIA’s involvement in the Consumer Electronics Show, we’re asking attendees to write about what broadband access means to their daily lives. Throughout the convention, we’ll be posting some the responses we receive.

Everyone should have access to broadband. In this day and age, everyone gets email, surfs the web, etc. This is extremely time consuming on dial-up. I, personally was able to get broadband about a year ago. It definitely has made my web experience much better.

— Steve

What I think about broadband is that it is a faster way of using Internet and getting to know what I can do with it. If I had it I would use it because it is faster and easier to use than my type of Internet.

— James

Rural communities aren’t any different in their need for broadband — but with even greater need. Broadband equalizes the economic playing field. Why are the urban dwellers afraid of us rural geeks?

— Anonymous

More than the technology aspect what broadband means to me is that I am CONNECTED — with family, with friends, with office. It is extremely important in today’s world to be connected ANYWHERE ANYTIME, to have information available ANYWHERE ANYTIME.

As business people we all know the importance of having information available to us all the time, whether it is the latest stock information, who bought whom. And this can no better be understood than by a farmer in a remote village in Uttar Pradesh in India, who can check weather forecasts to determine the correct time to sow, can check prices of foodgrains and can even connect to buyers.

Broadband connectivity can change the way we lead our lives. It is not about technology only, it is about how it brings people across the world closer.

— Aditya

CES Forecast

By Brad

This Wednesday, over 100,000 techies will be descending upon Las Vegas for the Consumer Electronics Show. Among the hot topics for the event, MarketWatch reports, will be mobile devices and people always being connected to the Internet.

In other CES news, our very own co-chairman David Sutphen will be participating in a session titled “Mobile & Broadband Music: New Platforms + New Technology + More Music + Dynamic Marketplace,” alongside heavy hitters like Brad Duea, the president of Napster, and Rob Lewis, the CEO of Omnifone.

Connected TVs

By Brad

As broadband adoption has grown, more and more people now use their home computers much like they would their TV. Sites like Netflix, Hulu and YouTube offer countless hours of entertainment, from entire movies and TV shows, to videos of frat boys doing themselves damage. The next step, obviously, is to better integrate the online world into your TV.

Microsoft tried this years ago with its WebTV, an idea that never quite took off. But at this year’s just-wrapped Consumer Electronics Show, as the site Read Write Web reports, so-called “connected TVs” were all the rage. These aren’t simple mash-ups of standard televisions and computers, though. Instead, connected TVs make it so…

...the TV experience is simply being enhanced by the web-enabled technologies - which you can choose to use or not use as you wish. If you’re just relaxing, you may want to just enjoy the normal passive TV experience. But for certain events - favorite shows, sports, breaking news - you may choose to interact with others via the widgets over social media like MySpace and Twitter. Other widgets like News and Entertainment listings will also be convenient ways to get bite-sized information without having to pull out the computer.

So what lessons have connected TV makers learned from the WebTV failure? For one thing, that if the experience of watching TV ain’t broke, don’t fix it:

The key point here with these new connected TVs is that the widgets don’t interrupt what people think of as the “TV experience.” Explains Genevieve Bell, an anthropologist and director of the user experience group in Intel’s digital-home group, people have extremely strong bonds to their TV sets. “Any effort to add internet content needs to be just as simple and not interfere with the experiences and behavior patterns the users enjoy.” What that means, she says, is that the interaction needs to take place using a conventional remote control - not a computer keyboard or on-screen web browser.