The real Gigabit Challenge is getting ISPs to think like tech firms, The Web-Deprived Study at McDonald’s and more

By RyanKamauff

Here are the top tech news and stories of the day.

• PBS tweet entices SuperBowl watchers to Downton Abbey: how it happened – During last night’s epic Super Bowl blackout, Marketing and Communications director of PBS, Kevin Dando, used Twitter to grab viewers for their network. The Super Bowl (the most watched television event of all time) was blacked out for 34 minutes. PBS’s tweet was their second most popular tweet of the year. Via Paid Content, more here.
• The real Gigabit Challenge is getting ISPs to think like tech firms – More and more cities are looking to make gigabit connections to households a municipal matter. In this article, the author argues that Telcos need to increase R&D and operational investment, to push the threshold of the services they can offer. However, since Telcos believe they are just delivering a commodity, to do little to differentiate on quality but rather on price. Via GigaOM, more here.
• The Web-Deprived Study at McDonald’s – In many families and communities, broadband internet is not accessible. I’ve often mentioned how close to (or more than) 50% of the internet using population uses it primarily from mobile devices, so this should be no surprise. In these neighborhoods, children congregate at the local McDonald’s to take advantage of the free broadband. It seems sometimes that the digital divide, even as mobile and other costs go down, is staying the same (or growing) due to a lack of broadband in many rural communities. Via WSJ, more here.
• This Text String Crashes Almost Any App on a Mac Running Mountain Lion – Apparently there is a little “easter egg” of sorts in OS X Mountain Lion. The string: “File:///” automatically stops most apps in the OS. It seems to only work on Mountain Lion versions (not older versions) check it out for yourself. Via Gizmodo, more here.
• Another Microsoft partner plays the field: HP outs a $329 Chromebook – HP is releasing details on their forthcoming Chromebook. I’ve been using a Chromebook for a few months, and have to say I am very impressed with what Samsung and Google teamed up to deliver. HP’s will be $329, with a 14″ screen (the largest among all Chromebooks). The device is around 4 lbs with a 4-hour battery (very different than the ARM Chromebook I use). Clearly the ChromeOS is gaining traction among OEMs, schools and other outfits, and may soon take the “Wintel” world by storm. Via GigaOM, more here.

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