The Broadband Divide: Rural Access Lags Far Behind Cities

Imagine that there is a way to bring the advantages of the city to the country. Imagine that you can lead a life that is slow and peaceful and full of the sounds and fresh air of the country but in an instant you can be in the city. In an instant you can get the latest information about prices, or talk with international sellers, or show your products to Wall Street traders. Imagine that you can make a good living in the small town your parents grew up in and still make sure your parents see the best doctors even though they are far away at the Mayo Clinic or Johns Hopkins. Imagine that your children can also live in that small town but can take advantage of the best schools and libraries and museums . . . maybe even Harvard and the Smithsonian and the Library of Congress. This is the rosy promise of the digital age.

The ugly nightmare of the digital age is that new information technologies will increase the advantages of urban and suburban America and deepen the disadvantages of small towns and rural America.

By Mark Lloyd

Full Story: http://www.americanprogress.org/issues/2007/10/lloyd_testimony.html

(Many thanks to Bill Gillis for passing this along. Russ)