Word: modems
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...invention of the stirrup--enabling armored knights to fight on horseback--changed history. The modem has done much the same thing. It has supplied millions with a weapon that allows them to fire instantaneous opinions through the air like tracer bullets and thus engage in daily cultural warfare on a scale never seen before in history...
What's going wrong? Part of the problem is that the audience just isn't there yet. Even brief online movies require hefty broadband connections such as a cable modem or a DSL. Most of us are still chugging along on 56-K modems, and would rather watch TV than wait half an hour for a jerky postage stamp-size short to load. So until broadband goes mainstream, online entertainment networks have the near impossible task of building a brand in a near vacuum while burning as little cash as possible. "It's like Survivor," says Kevin Wendle, co-founder...
...equipped to take full advantage too. "Online courses have gone beyond slapping up a Web page and exchanging e-mail," Sperry says. "Now we can broadcast live lectures over streaming media. It's like a real classroom environment. But it's not going to be satisfying on a 28K modem." Once you've enrolled in a course, getting the most out of it isn't rocket science, says instructor Davis. "Just do the work. If you paid only $30 for it and if no one's going to notice if you don't show up, it's easy to lose...
...draw from music submitted to the site), and Riffage's users rate the music and post reviews. Last week one of the showcased acts was a San Francisco-based country group called the Court and Spark (a user named Rodco called the band "supercool mood country"). Using a 56K modem, it took a mind-numbing 2 hr. 20 min. to download the band's track Sugar Pie in Bed (this critic was able to have a buffet lunch, shop at Barnes & Noble and listen to the new Papa Roach CD in the interim). Still, the track, with its gently curmudgeonly...
...Download RealPlayer 8 over home modem connection. Meanwhile, pour glass of wine and turn on TV. Watch Doris Kearns Goodwin tell touching anecdote about the dejected Lyndon Baines Johnson being unable to attend the 1968 Democratic convention. Feel heretofore unfelt connection with LBJ. Decide that Doris Kearns Goodwin is one special lady...