Make the switch: go with broadband

TechTalk
By Ken Doyle

The nationwide adoption rate for broadband Internet access reached 50% this year, yet recent statistics show that it’s declining. That fact surprises most of the analysts and self-proclaimed experts, especially since broadband speeds continue to rise as prices level off, or even fall in some markets. Four years ago, many industry watchers were predicting closer to 100% adoption rates by now, with some even suggesting that broadband access would be free. Obviously, we ’re not there yet.

Still, you can now get a 3 Mbps cable connection that’s over 50 times faster than the best dial-up connection, for little more than dial-up cost a year ago. And DSL connections, while still slower than cable, are finally becoming price-competitive.

So, if you haven’t already realized the benefits of being online 24/7, what’s stopping you? To help you make an informed decision, indulge me while I present my top ten reasons for getting broadband Internet access:

10. You can spend even more time waiting around for the cable or phone guy to show up to fix a problem.

9. You can actually be on the Internet without losing your hearing from all the screeching modem tones, as you try—for the forty-second time—to connect to your dial-up provider.

8. You can take being a couch potato to new levels as you watch TV shows on your computer.

7. You can find even more poorly designed, ugly, or just plain useless websites than you ever did on a dial-up line.

6. You can stop downloading all those huge files at work and then discovering that there’s no easy way to bring them home.

5. You don’t have to think twice about downloading every piece of buggy shareware, ugly wallpaper, or obnoxious screensaver.

4. You can no longer avoid phone calls by being online all day.

3. The FBI can’t read your e-mail by tapping your phone lines anymore. Instead, they can subpoena your broadband Internet provider.

2. Your Windows PC can get hacked more often, and play host to even more viruses and spyware.

1. And maybe that will finally get you to throw away your PC and replace it with a Mac, thereby putting IT consultants like me out of business forever.