Tuesday, November 9, 2010

Meningitis, Broadband, and Google

What's all this hubbub about folks in the country, the rural towns, the under-privileged, the minorities... all having broadband access? Why are countless bloggers, online news outlets, and even major voices like the LA Times and CNet in a flurry of commentary over the NTIA's recent report about the socioeconomic gap in broadband users? Is it really that fundamentally necessary to our nation's well-being that everyone--we mean everyone--has broadband access?

If you're reading this blog, you likely loaded it at speeds somewhere north of 3 Mbps. That means, according to the FCC, you have broadband speed. And, according the NTIA's report, that means that the likelihood is greater than 70% that you're not below the poverty line and not a minority.

So, what does that mean?

My daughter woke up yesterday with a little bit of a runny nose, and she was flat out cranky. Nothing unusual, however, because runny noses are common when babies are teething, as is crankiness, and she was cutting a new chomper on top.

How'd we know that? Google, accessed via my wifes iPhone from the comfort of the rocker in the nursery.

So, not to be alarmist parents, we dismissed it. Today, however, she's even more fussy... and woke up covered in sweat. Sure enough, she's running a fever. Also (according to Google, not uncommon with teething). But, when her fever rose, and we noticed her cries fade into long slow moans, we had some concerns. As she moaned, she would sit still... no reaching for toys, no crawling, and really screamed if we moved her.

Again, from the iPhone, Google: "baby fever moaning stiff"

Result #2. Meningitis.

Google: "baby menangits", which of course, Google re-spelled for us "baby meningitis" and displayed correct results.

We're getting treatment. Our daughter will be just fine. But what re-write that scene sans iphone. Sans computer. Sans internet.

Access to data impacts our society in innumerable ways. Health scares like this story may be extreme, but what about simple things: job searches, online college education, resume-writing tips on someone's blog, candidate information from unbiased sources. Where can any of this be accessed sans broadband? Can you really argue it's immaterial?

Labels: Broadband, iPhone, NTIA, Rural Broadband