I believe it's politics that causes the difference.
Sure politics makes a difference. At the moment, those other countries are more socialist than ours. The government controls more industries. There are higher taxes. There is less freedom. I know that's not what I want in my country. I want the government to be small. I want more freedom. I want lower taxes. If there is a need, be it broadband or anything else, and there are sufficient people willing to pay for it, it will happen eventually. If people don't want to pay for it because it's too expensive in their area, they do without or move to where it's cheaper. I don't think it's appropriate for them to complain about unfairness and that the government should do something. It's not the government's job to do something like this. If it's too expensive to provide this through private industry, it's certainly too expensive for the government to get involved. The government can never do something for less money that private industry. There's too much overhead.
If giving the population access to something is a goal, capitalism does not work well.
But the goal of capitalism is not to provide the population access to things or services. The goal of capitalism is to create an prosperous economic environment. A side benefit is minimizing the cost of goods and services through competition and choice. The products and services provided are driven by a combination of need and willingness to pay for it.
Geographically, it becomes even worse, with broadband being largely unavailable outside cities and suburbs, while other countries have ensured that penetration also reaches areas with a low population density.
Geographically you're comparing apples and oranges. "Low population density" is significantly different between the United States and most of these mentioned.
People per square km: (Source)
S. Korea: 480
Netherlands: 392
Belgium: 341
UK: 246
N. Korea: 187
Switzerland: 176
Denmark: 127
United States: 31
Sweden: 20
Finland: 15
Norway: 12
Canada: 3.2
Iceland: 3
The most densely populated state has 440 people per square km and quickly drops. (Source for the states' population densities.) Of the 50 states, only 10 have population densities of greater than 100 people per square km. So, the cost of reaching all the people in Korea, Netherlands, Belgium, UK, Switzerland, or Denmark is significantly less (probably by a couple orders of magnitude) than all the people in the United States.
A better comparison would be between the countries listed and the states of New Jersey, Rhode Island, Massachusetts, Connecticut, Maryland, New York, Delaware, Florida, Ohio and Pennsylvania. I'm guessing there's probably pretty good broadband coverage in these states in "low density" areas. Although I'll grant you, in Alaska, probably not so much.
There are two kinds of hard problems in programming: problems that are hard because they require ingenuity and deep thought, and problems that are hard because they require weeks of unraveling someone else's garbage.
Not everything is a duality.
There is also the problem that's hard because it requires weeks of unraveling someone else's garbage until you understand the problem space enough to realize it's an ingenious and thoughtful solution.
Bullet trains can offer speeds up to 200 mph, and typically have much faster boarding and
unloading times. A trip from San Antonio to Dallas could take an hour and a half, but Google
maps tells me that it takes over 4 and a half hours via automobile.
4-1/2 hours by automobile is a limit artificially imposed by our nanny state. We have vehicles
capable of 200 mpg now which will work on existing roads. Zero technology needed. All we need
to do is repeal the stupid speed limit law and educate drivers about how to drive properly.
Slashdot Mirror
I believe it's politics that causes the difference.
Sure politics makes a difference. At the moment, those other countries are more socialist than ours. The government controls more industries. There are higher taxes. There is less freedom. I know that's not what I want in my country. I want the government to be small. I want more freedom. I want lower taxes. If there is a need, be it broadband or anything else, and there are sufficient people willing to pay for it, it will happen eventually. If people don't want to pay for it because it's too expensive in their area, they do without or move to where it's cheaper. I don't think it's appropriate for them to complain about unfairness and that the government should do something. It's not the government's job to do something like this. If it's too expensive to provide this through private industry, it's certainly too expensive for the government to get involved. The government can never do something for less money that private industry. There's too much overhead.
If giving the population access to something is a goal, capitalism does not work well.
But the goal of capitalism is not to provide the population access to things or services. The goal of capitalism is to create an prosperous economic environment. A side benefit is minimizing the cost of goods and services through competition and choice. The products and services provided are driven by a combination of need and willingness to pay for it.
Geographically, it becomes even worse, with broadband being largely unavailable outside cities and suburbs, while other countries have ensured that penetration also reaches areas with a low population density.
Geographically you're comparing apples and oranges. "Low population density" is significantly different between the United States and most of these mentioned.
People per square km: (Source)
S. Korea: 480
Netherlands: 392
Belgium: 341
UK: 246
N. Korea: 187
Switzerland: 176
Denmark: 127
United States: 31
Sweden: 20
Finland: 15
Norway: 12
Canada: 3.2
Iceland: 3
The most densely populated state has 440 people per square km and quickly drops. (Source for the states' population densities.) Of the 50 states, only 10 have population densities of greater than 100 people per square km. So, the cost of reaching all the people in Korea, Netherlands, Belgium, UK, Switzerland, or Denmark is significantly less (probably by a couple orders of magnitude) than all the people in the United States.
A better comparison would be between the countries listed and the states of New Jersey, Rhode Island, Massachusetts, Connecticut, Maryland, New York, Delaware, Florida, Ohio and Pennsylvania. I'm guessing there's probably pretty good broadband coverage in these states in "low density" areas. Although I'll grant you, in Alaska, probably not so much.
There are two kinds of hard problems in programming: problems that are hard because they require ingenuity and deep thought, and problems that are hard because they require weeks of unraveling someone else's garbage.
Not everything is a duality.
There is also the problem that's hard because it requires weeks of unraveling someone else's garbage until you understand the problem space enough to realize it's an ingenious and thoughtful solution.
When the New Testament was being translated from Hebrew to Greek...
Huh?!? The New Testament was originally written in Greek. Any Hebrew version is a translation from Greek, not to Greek.
quarter of 5 = quarter past 5
Not quite.
quarter of ('til) 5 = 4:45
quarter past 5 = 5:15
So?
One is mandated by the constitution; it's the federal government's fundamental job.
The other isn't; it's the individual's responsibility to provide for their own personal needs.
4-1/2 hours by automobile is a limit artificially imposed by our nanny state. We have vehicles capable of 200 mpg now which will work on existing roads. Zero technology needed. All we need to do is repeal the stupid speed limit law and educate drivers about how to drive properly.