America lagging in Internet access speed

If you like to use the Internet in the U.S., it can be painful to read articles like this:

Japan’s Warp-Speed Ride to Internet Future

Here is why it is painful: “Americans invented the Internet, but the Japanese are running away with it. Broadband service here is eight to 30 times as fast as in the United States — and considerably cheaper. Japan has the world’s fastest Internet connections, delivering more data at a lower cost than anywhere else, recent studies show. Accelerating broadband speed in this country — as well as in South Korea and much of Europe — is pushing open doors to Internet innovation that are likely to remain closed for years to come in much of the United States…”

This is becoming a consistent theme. If you take time to think about it, it is interesting how many areas we lag in. Cell phone speed shows a similar pattern (here’s a typical article). Health care too (example: United States slips to 42 in rankings of longevity). Manufacturing. Infrastructure (the recent bridge collpase being an example). Maybe space travel if China keeps accelerating.

For more info see How Internet Infrastructure Works