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If you are a geek, love a geek or simply aspire to be a geek, the true life incident you're about to read will be all too familiar.
Two nights ago I was called over to a friend's house to work on an upcoming project. We'd finished what had to be done when she looked at me and said, "Uhm. While you're here, you think you can show me how to _____ on the computer?" Of course, I agree. (What self-respecting geek wanna-be rejects the opportunity to work in a foreign land, so to speak?)
I sat in the driver's seat and worked her computer through the problem complete with "click here" and "ignore that" and "don't worry about it." Although we were using a dial-up connection and the slowest was absolutely killing me, on a stack of my children's best underpants I swear that I did not say a word. I took a swig of my brown fizzy and waited patiently.
"I know you hate my dial-up," the friend said. She could not have been more on target. I am spoiled rotten by both broadband and having a long ago geek-certified husband who can tweak computers with the best of them.
The irony is that, here in Iowa at least, I'm the exception and my friend is the rule.
Several months ago I was sent an email and asked to test my internet connection speed. I did and was pleased to learn that my connection speed was well above average. I saved the results to show to my husband for a joint gloating session and then forgot about it.
Today, I received an email from the Communications Workers of America letting me as Jane Blogger know the results of all the speed tests had been compiled and statistical information has been made available. Compared to my respectable -- although no where near earth-shattering -- results, the rest of Iowa might as well be using hamsters and wheels to surf the net.
The report shows Iowans connect to the internet at the fourth slowest rate in the nation. Only Wyoming, West Virginia and Alaska clock slower connection speeds. To put it in perspective, if a person in Rhode Island (the fastest state) and a person in Iowa both go to download the same piece of information, it will take the Iowan nearly four times longer.
Before Iowans begin to cry or form healing circles around their modems, there is a silver lining. The average download rate for Iowa is 1.2 megabits per second. The average across the U.S. is only 1.3 mbps.
Our nation, which many of us will argue is the best place on earth, has the lowest connection rate in the industrialized world. That's right. We're number one only if you count from the bottom up!
Our Canadian friends clock in at 3.1 mbps with Germans nearby at 3.3 mbps. Iceland ranks next at 4.1 mbps. Sweden leaps far ahead at 8.4 mbps. The big winner in this race, however, is Japan which has average download speeds of 51.2 mbps.
If you look at the information on upload speeds, the same dismal picture emerges.
According to the speed matters site, our nation is falling behind because we do not have a national policy to promote high speed internet access. They say we have relied on "a hodge-podge of fragmented government programs and uneven private sector responses to changing markets, leaving us with a gaping digital divide."
The aim of the project is to convince legislators to adopt a comprehensive universal internet access policy, ensuring all our residents are able to benefit from major technological advances.
For those who haven't done so, I encourage you to click over to speed matters and take the test. Once you have your results, let us know. (Fast woman seeks same for internet video conferencing, live chatting and multi-tasking goodness.)
So, how fast was my connection? If you want to find someone faster, you'll probably need to catch a plane to Japan.
My upload speed was 718 kilobits per second (behind only Canada at 1.1 mbps and Japan at 1.3 mbps). That's well above the Iowa average of 206 kbps and the U.S. average of 230 kbps. My download speed rocketed up to 9.1 mbps, which narrowly inched past Sweden but fell well behind Japan.
