High-speed internet's potential effects on educational access and social behavior

High-Speed Internet and Society

Cultural Anthropology concerns itself with the intricacies of cultural development amongst the human species. One innovation that has impacted the way a society or population develops culturally is the Internet. As the Internet becomes more ubiquitous, prices for Internet subscription drops thereby increasing the number of people who can afford Internet services. Additionally, market pressures amongst cable and Internet companies have brought about trials to improve the quality (i.e. The speed of Internet connectivity) of the Internet. The purpose of this essay is to examine the potential effects inexpensive high-speed Internet service may have on society.

"Fiber for Communities" is a Google initiative that seeks to install fiber optic lines that will bring gigabit-per-second Internet speed to 500,000 people in Kansas City by 2012. Gigibit-per-second Internet speed is blazing fast, consider the realities it brings as described in the AP article, Google Picks Kansas City, "The company [Google] envisions systems that will let consumers to download a high-definition, full-length feature film in less than five minutes, allow rural health clinics to send 3-D medical images over the Internet and let students collaborate with classmates around the world while watching live 3-D video of a university lecture" (AP 1).

The impact of this could be huge across all sectors of society, but perhaps none more than education. "Access" is a key component to education. Those who have the best, or least encumbered, access to teachers, materials, textbooks, lectures have a distinct advantage over those who do not have access or limited access to those aforementioned resources. With super high-speed Internet students would have immediate access to resources that would, under normal circumstances (the current Internet speed), be restricted or unavailable. Instead of downloading a lecture, and watching it after it has taken place, students would be able to remotely sit in on lectures, in real time, and participate.

If the upside to super high-speed Internet is clear as far as education, what's the downside? Well, a potential downside is, "If more data can be sent through Internet pipes at faster speeds, Google believes people will spend more time on the Internet -- an activity that typically enriches the company by bringing more traffic to its dominant search engine and producing more opportunities to show revenue-generating ads" (AP 1).

In other words, if one is spending more time on the Internet that means he/she is spending less time doing other things. Perhaps, this means less time interacting with family members and friends, less time spent doing physical exercise, less time reading books, etc. Will more time spent on the Internet increase social alienation and turn us into social recluses, who sit idly in front of computer screens in sun-soaked diners vis a vis an Edward Hopper painting?