Cartoon 785: Deserting…

I will draw you an analogy.

We are a nation noted for its design and engineering prowess. The latest creation is championed as exemplary. It is a Ferrari like vehicle that can reach speeds of 160 miles an hour. It hugs the ground with a 6 inch clearance. People have rushed out to buy it when it was due to come on sale. They slept out in some cases to be certain to be able to get one when the stores opened.

Realization is starting to set in. The buyers are coming face-to-face with the fact all the roads in the nation are unpaved dirt tracks. The best speeds on most of the dirt roads is about 30 miles an hour, and that assumes you are able to avoid the ruts. Worst, the owners of these dirt tracks are placing speed bumps. Other nations in the world, including some neighboring nations you think of as second world, have autobahn like stretches of highway.

Now substitute the new iPad for the Ferrari like vehicle and American broadband speeds and access for the dirt road. America’s offering labeled “broadband” does not meet the accepted international definition for speed. It is far down on the list of nations.

Why are we in this condition? Because the communication carriers can charge without having to deliver a world class offering and they are in collusion to make certain there is no competition that will raise the bar. There also exits a strong incentive from the major content providers, such as those of Hollywood and the record industry, to keep speeds slow and prevent unauthorized file access and sharing. The speed bumps are the carriers throttling of download speeds to reduce traffic and take the spotlight off their inadequate infra-structure. Finally there is a conflict of interest as they get directly into content ownership and distribution.

There is one assertion constantly being made, “… America is not in decline”. I always say “follow the money”. I am certain Apple, Steve Jobs, knew that his latest iPad would be a very marginal device and not able to reach its potential in America. Do you remember the issue with the first iPhone and AT&T’s network being inadequate? I am certain Steve Jobs did. Then why bring to market something that can not be used effectively in its optimal mode? Perhaps Apple is abandoning American as its primary focused technology market.

Apple may be just the most graphic example of industry and business deserting a sinking ship through no longer focusing specifically on the American consumer mass market.