Broadband: What's All the Fuss About?

BROADBAND: WHAT'S ALL THE FUSS?
[SOURCE: Pew research Center, AUTHOR: John B. Horrigan]
[Commentary] Why does access to a high-speed connection at home matter? The easy answer to this question is straightforward. A broadband link at home means more information coming at the user faster. That invites a larger question: What are the consequences of networked users having access to all this information, especially when they are also armed with "always on" uploading capability? At the heart of the answer lies a defining behavioral difference among home broadband users. As the Pew Internet Project first pointed out in 2002 in The Broadband Difference, broadband users are far more likely than dial-up Internet users to create or post content to the Internet. This means having a blog, posting photos online, or contributing to chat-rooms. The fuss about broadband, then, extends beyond access to information to active participation in the online commons as people with shared interests or problems gather at various online forums to chat or collaborate.
http://pewresearch.org/pubs/616/broadband