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 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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