Digital age is slow to arrive in much of rural America

After a couple of days in this part of rural Alabama, it is hard to complain about a dropped iPhone call or a Cee Lo video that takes a few seconds too long to load.

The county administrator cannot get broadband at her house. Neither can the sportswriter at The Thomasville Times.

Here in Coffeeville, the only computer many students ever touch is at the high school.

“I’m missing a whole lot,” Justin Bell, 17, said. “I know that.”

As the world embraces its digital age — 2 billion people now use the Internet regularly — the line delineating two Americas has become more broadly drawn. There are those who have reliable, fast access to the Internet, and those, like about half of the 27,867 people here in Clarke County, who do not.

In rural America, only 60 percent of households use broadband Internet service, according to a report released Thursday by the Department of Commerce. That is 10 percent less than urban households.

Overall, 28 percent of Americans do not use the Internet at all.

The report was developed in conjunction with a national broadband map that was also released Thursday as part of a billion-dollar effort to improve Internet access in the United States, particularly in rural areas.

Affordable broadband service through hard wiring and or cellular phone coverage could revolutionize life in rural parts of the country, according to advocates for improving such services. In addition to being able to pay bills or purchase goods not available in nearby towns, isolated people could visit doctors online. They could work from home and take college classes.

Increasingly, interacting with certain branches of government can be done only online. And in emergencies, a lack of cell phone or e-mail can have serious consequences. Emergency alerts regarding severe weather, for example, are often sent only through text or e-mail.

All of that is important, certainly. But there is also a social component to good Internet access. Here in Clarke County, where churches and taxidermy shops line the main roads and drivers learn early to dodge logging trucks hauling pine trees, most people would simply like to upload photos of their children to Facebook.

“Ninety-five percent of the people in this county who want public water can have it, but people can’t even talk to each other around here,” said Sharon Jones, 60, who owns a small logging company with her husband and lives just outside of Coffeeville.

It took her three days to try to arrange a meeting with the governor 150 miles away in Montgomery because such inquiries cannot be made over the phone and she had to drive 45 minutes to her daughter’s house to use e-mail.

At home, her cell phone works only if she walks to the porch and stands at the end of a bench. So she uses a local cell phone/walkie-talkie hybrid called Southern Link.

They have dial-up at the office, “but that’s so slow it makes you pull your hair out,” Jones said. A satellite dish is out of the question because her house is surrounded by trees.

“It takes 10 times the effort to do what someone else can do in a matter of five minutes,” she said.

After a couple of days in this part of rural Alabama, it is hard to complain about a dropped iPhone call or a Cee Lo video that takes a few seconds too long to load. The county administrator cannot get broadband at her house. Neither can the sportswriter at The Thomasville Times. Here in Coffeeville, the only computer many students ever touch is at the high school. “I’m missing a whole lot,” Justin Bell, 17, said. “I know that.” As the world embraces its digital age — 2 billion people now use the Internet regularly — the line delineating two Americas has become more broadly drawn. There are those who have reliable, fast access to the Internet, and those, like about half of the 27,867 people here in Clarke County, who do not. In rural America, only 60 percent of households use broadband Internet service, according to a report released Thursday by the Department of Commerce. That is 10 percent less than urban households. Overall, 28 percent of Americans do not use the Internet at all. The report was developed in conjunction with a national broadband map that was also released Thursday as part of a billion-dollar effort to improve Internet access in the United States, particularly in rural areas. Affordable broadband service through hard wiring and or cellular phone coverage could revolutionize life in rural parts of the country, according to advocates for improving such services. In addition to being able to pay bills or purchase goods not available in nearby towns, isolated people could visit doctors online. They could work from home and take college classes. Increasingly, interacting with certain branches of government can be done only online. And in emergencies, a lack of cell phone or e-mail can have serious consequences. Emergency alerts regarding severe weather, for example, are often sent only through text or e-mail. All of that is important, certainly. But there is also a social component to good Internet access. Here in Clarke County, where churches and taxidermy shops line the main roads and drivers learn early to dodge logging trucks hauling pine trees, most people would simply like to upload photos of their children to Facebook. “Ninety-five percent of the people in this county who want public water can have it, but people can’t even talk to each other around here,” said Sharon Jones, 60, who owns a small logging company with her husband and lives just outside of Coffeeville. It took her three days to try to arrange a meeting with the governor 150 miles away in Montgomery because such inquiries cannot be made over the phone and she had to drive 45 minutes to her daughter’s house to use e-mail. At home, her cell phone works only if she walks to the porch and stands at the end of a bench. So she uses a local cell phone/walkie-talkie hybrid called Southern Link. They have dial-up at the office, “but that’s so slow it makes you pull your hair out,” Jones said. A satellite dish is out of the question because her house is surrounded by trees. “It takes 10 times the effort to do what someone else can do in a matter of five minutes,” she said.CHI Turbo Flat Iron 1 CHI Flat Iron chi hair straightene chi straightener chi hair straightener