H
herbu
Audioholic Samurai
BSA, I'll agree that the internet has become a "necessity" in the same vein as the telephone or a car. I have done everything you list above with DSL. Certainly I would have liked faster, but it was what it was and I managed.1) Internet has in fact became a necessity, just like water and electricity - you must have to deal with state and federal government agencies.
2) Education - very often nowadays require internet connection to receive and submit the homework
3) Banking, Investing, Managing retirement, shopping - all require internet
4) Working from home, video conferencing, long distance voip calls
5) Running a business - In my opinion if a business doesn't have SOME internet presence, it may as well does not exists. I always use yelp/Angie's/google listing to find local services and read the reviews.
6) Entertainment - Over the internet TV and streaming video on demand are rising in popularity and force competition to provide more consumer friendly packages and prices.
7) U.N. REPORT DECLARES INTERNET ACCESS A HUMAN RIGHT
Today, everyone doesn't have cell phone coverage at their house. Some don't have land lines. Some don't have a car or a bus route. Is that a government problem? I'm a bit puzzled when I see people in the city complaining about a lack of things that people in the country regularly do without.
I have a cellphone. I have a laptop. I have various Home Theater components connected to the internet. I can go days at a time without using the cellphone. I can shop, surf the web, do mail, and used to do work on my laptop with DSL. I can stream video and update firmware with DSL. So no, I don't consider high speed internet a "necessity" for the population.
It is certainly a necessity for some businesses to compete. It is certainly a convenience for many individuals. I absolutely appreciate my own increase in speed over the last 20 years. And I have, in fact, experienced throttling, and shopped around because of it. But it is not something that should be mandated or controlled by the government.
And I'm sorry, but a "U.N. Report" enjoys similar credibility with me as a "dumb" rating. But I do appreciate your time and effort to explain. I understand your points. I just don't agree.