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For some, it could be an issue. Broadband certainly has advantages over regular dial-up. But just how big of a deal is it?

If there's a bit of information that your dial-up connection can't pull up, chances are that you can find that information at another place that your connection can pull up. If not, you can find something very similar.

I know people who can't believe that dial-up still exists. (They also look on land-based phones with a mythic disbelief in their eyes.) But not everyone can afford more than the basics.

I come from a background where parents taught their children that they couldn't have everything they wanted. And they'll never have everything they want. And if you had to wait for something, you hushed complaining and learned to bear it.

There are sites that I can't reach, and sometimes my connection is slow, for I have dial-up. Yet, my connection is rarely longer than a minute or two. As for the sites that I can't reach, well, it doesn't cost me any sleep.

Do I mind? Not really. Waiting a couple of minutes isn't going to give me a heart attack (though getting angry over such a petty thing could). And so what if there are sites that I can't access? Some of them I probably don't even want access to. Besides, why should I know everything?

Like many people, I do spend hours and hours a day on my computer. But ninety-nine percent of that time, I'm writing. Only a portion of it spent online. So it's no big deal to me, really.

I also know people (this may be hard to believe, but it's true) who don't have Internet service and DON'T WANT Internet service. Why? It's another monthly bill.

True, you can get basic dial-up service relatively cheap, but many can't afford that ten or fifteen bucks.

That upper middle-class society we see advertised so much doesn't exist for most Americans. Never has. Probably never will.

If a low-income family absolutely has to have broadband, it should be made more affordable. But then, I feel that way about everything: everything should be more affordable for low-income families or individuals. After all, we're Americans, too.

But really think about it. What do the majority of people do online? They talk to each other through instant messaging. They find, watch, and download porn. They shop for clothes, books, CDs, whatever. They gorge themselves on celebrity news. You don't need broadband for this.

But for talking online, email, basic browsing, basic research . . . the usual stuff, I don't believe it's a real issue. In a culture that wants it all yesterday, maybe it is. And then, maybe we need to tear off the blinders we seem to be wearing.

Learn more about this author, Jason Lusk.
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