Obama: "It is unacceptable that the U.S. ranks 15th in the world in broadband adoption"

Re:Obama: "It is unacceptable that the U.S. ranks 15th in th... by cpr on Monday December 08, 2008 @01:31PM (#390133)

"It is unacceptable that the United States ranks 15th in the world in broadband adoption," Mr. Obama said. "Here, in the country that invented the Internet, every child should have the chance to get online."

Why did I read that as "... every child should have the chance to download porn at a high rate"? Sigh, does anyone really believe that internet access is going to make a serious difference in the lives of those children who are struggling educationally or whose families are on the economic margins? All it will do is drag them down further in a wasteland of social networking sites (Facebook, Myspace) and (usually) much worse.

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Re:Obama: "It is unacceptable that the U.S. ranks 15th in th... by noonespecial on Monday December 08, 2008 @02:07PM (#390184)

Sigh, does anyone really believe that internet access is going to make a serious difference in the lives of those children...

Me. I do. Maybe not all of them. Maybe not even most. But some, certainly.

I never was much for the argument that we shouldn't give poor people X because they won't know how to use it. Perhaps we shouldn't help them with the electric bill either because they're just gonna sit around and watch "Spongebob".

Sure, some will waste the opportunity, but as government help programs go, this one is cheap. Lets let them decide what to do with that opportunity.

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Re:Obama: "It is unacceptable that the U.S. ranks 15th in th... by DaniFong on Monday December 08, 2008 @04:35PM (#390414)

I've probably learned ten times more from the internet during the time when I was in public school than I did from school activities. Those who didn't have access were, and are, at a massive disadvantage. If the kids in now unserved communities so choose to take that opportunity and waste it, it is up to them. But they should at least have that opportunity to seize.

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Re:Obama: "It is unacceptable that the U.S. ranks 15th in th... by palish on Monday December 08, 2008 @02:08PM (#390186)

Just because 99% of children are "in a wasteland of social networking sites" doesn't mean everyone is, or will be. The internet is a vast, valuable resource. It is the only reason I am as competent a programmer as I am today. I'm entirely self-taught, thanks to the internet. As I was growing up, I usually skipped school activities (and sometimes school) in favor of learning programming on the internet.

So please don't deny people like me the opportunity just because most people around us misuse it.

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Re:Obama: "It is unacceptable that the U.S. ranks 15th in th... by cpr on Monday December 08, 2008 @02:48PM (#390264)

So we should embark on a huge government-funded program to widen broadband availability so 1% of children can benefit from it.

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Re:Obama: "It is unacceptable that the U.S. ranks 15th in th... by palish on Monday December 08, 2008 @03:19PM (#390325)

I don't know. You certainly bring up a good counterpoint, that it would be very costly and would benefit a disproportionally small amount of the population.

There probably is no right answer. I would personally like to ensure future children the same opportunities that were afforded to me.

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Re:Obama: "It is unacceptable that the U.S. ranks 15th in th... by etal on Monday December 08, 2008 @10:44PM (#390909)

Track down a relative who doesn't really know how to use the Internet, and observe all the little inefficiencies in their life that would drive you nuts. Arranging your life by mail and phone takes twice as long. Looking for work and housing takes so long that you miss a lot of good opportunities. Kids teaching themselves online is just the upper end of it; that majority of broadband users simply do the usual things more efficiently.

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Re:Obama: "It is unacceptable that the U.S. ranks 15th in th... by GHFigs on Monday December 08, 2008 @11:45PM (#390958)

Making internet access available to more people does not only benefit those people.

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Re:Obama: "It is unacceptable that the U.S. ranks 15th in th... by olefoo on Monday December 08, 2008 @06:43PM (#390608)

One would think that the job of getting children to take advantage of the resources made available to them would be the responsibility of their parents and teachers. The job of ensuring that they have the resources they need is what we are talking about.

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Re:Obama: "It is unacceptable that the U.S. ranks 15th in th... by GHFigs on Monday December 08, 2008 @11:38PM (#390949)

What makes you think that children who are struggling educationally or whose families are on the economic margins (which is only a subset of "every child") are incapable of appreciating the finer things that come with internet access, presumably including the things you most value about it?

Or more pointedly: what makes you more deserving of internet access than them?

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Re:Obama: "It is unacceptable that the U.S. ranks 15th in th... by cpr on Wednesday December 10, 2008 @03:59PM (#393458)

Nothing does.

But does that mean the government should be worrying about making sure everyone has a good car, a good home, good food, etc.? Seems like broadband is pretty far down on the "basic needs" list.

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Re:Obama: "It is unacceptable that the U.S. ranks 15th in th... by GHFigs on Wednesday December 10, 2008 @08:17PM (#393757)

Your point is unclear. Is it your belief that the government ought to only fund "basic needs"? If so, you must be very disappointed with its current spending. If not, I don't understand why funding expansion of access to broadband (something the FCC already does to some extent, by the way) is a bad thing, given that for pretty much everyone that has it already, it's been a good thing. Your prior argument for this seemed to be that poor people who don't deserve it would get it, but that fails for a whole host of reasons. So, I'm not really seeing the downside here.

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