I have long taken issue with those who claim that the main benefit to broadband for most people is speed. And in fact, a recent report by the iSociety team at the Work Foundation has indicated that speed is pretty irrelevant for what most broadband users. But it also indicated that they don’t get the most out of what I consider the most obvious benefit – the “always on”-ness of the technology. Why? Because people tend leave their computers switched off at home when not in use.

The ever-quotable James Crabtree at iSociety explains “the PC is more scary monster than household pet. It is rarely loved, sometimes feared.”

So how much power does your computer use when switched on but on “suspend mode” (and its monitor is switched off)? According to this only about 20 watts – a quarter of an ordinary lightbulb.

What do people like about broadband, then? Apparently it is the fact that when it is switched on they don’t have to “watch the clock” – it isn’t metered. Of course you can get un-metered dialup but Joe or Jill public still wouldn’t wander away from their computer with it still connected to get themselves a cup of tea. It would still be tying up their phone line and it might disconnect itself.

More from the iSociety team on their weblog – about the report specifically, here and here.

They promise more research on people’s broadband-use behaviour. What I would like to know is that given most “ordinary folks” aren’t really getting what most of us hardcore users get out of broadband how many of them think it’s worth paying out the extra for it?

Academics and educators point out the obvious – broadband by itself won’t do much if anything to improve schools and hospitals – it depends what you do with it. Or that is where this BBC story begins – it quickly gets distracted by more prosaic issues of training and difficulties in arranging timetables around broadband education…

In reality the big question mark in my view is still more fundamental – broadband may be able to deliver more educational material in theory but does the material exist? Can it be integrated in the curriculum? Do teachers understand what it does (and doesn’t do)? Does the material provide the chance for real interactive learning or just a narrow set of branches towards a pre-programmed goal?

Similarly, broadband can only help doctors if they do perceive it as a benefit and rely on it.

I am very dubious about the repetition in this piece (and presumably in the thinking of some in the policy arena) about the importance of videoconferencing. Broadband does enable limited videoconferencing but is this really something valuable or would messageboards or mailing lists and other forms of communication (still helped by broadband) be more useful?

You know those Switch to Apple ads? Well some’s done a John’s Switch to Canada one. It’s no I’m Canadian but it is amusing nonetheless.

I suppose I could do a “Switch to England” ad but 1) it would be very un-English to do one (just as it is un-Canadian to beat that drum) and 2) I quite enjoy being Canadian sometimes…

It’s called Kikkoman, so some mad Japanese person decided to make a Flash animation about a superhero of the same name.

… and now here is an English translation… kind of.

Visit the Kunst bar where every drink makes you a work of art…petra verkaik movie mpegspeeing moviemovie posters serenitymovie extreme sexmovie stars fuckingmovie deep thetheaters nh in moviefree xxx movieof in mature movies ladies pantyhosexxx muscle movies ebony men sample

As long as you have a broadband connection so you can watch this video without downloading for hours. Since I normally abhor “click here”-style postings that don’t give you a clue about the content, think Leonard Nimoy… and hobbits.

(Thanks to Karen Murphy for the link…)

It has been suggested that the UK government needs to fund broadband content to get people to take it up. The e-Minister, Stephen Timms, said,

“For many, speed alone is not enough to justify upgrading to broadband. People need to be able to do more than play games and swap music files to convince them of the benefits of broadband.”

I am not so sure – while there is evidence that people enjoy the occaisional streaming video clip, research (like this recent US study) seems to suggest that most people get plenty of value out of broadband just by getting ordinary pages quickly without having to dial up or tie up a phone line to access them.payday 2000 loansloan payday 37 26 cashloan mortgage uk 2ndloans 401k faqloan credit bad 5 payday5 payday 20,7 loan cash online11 8 cash loan payday advancepayday fax cash loan advance noloan affiliate program15 10 loan black payday