Broadband for the masses

According to Nielsen/NetRatings, broadband penetration has passed the 50% mark. That's up from 38% just one year ago. This is an important development because of something mentioned in an earlier entry...namely that broadband makes possible new interactive services. Also, it suggests that critical mass has been achieved. This "tipping point" for interactive rich media services will accelerate the move towards "rich media"... digital content that requires the bigger pipe offered by broadband. So what are people doing with their cable modems and DSL connections? For one thing, they're becoming even less tolerant of waiting for content to download. Now, more than ever, surfers expect results when they click on a link. Latency, the delay between action and response, is being shortened by faster connections, but lengthened by "richer" (read fatter) content. The downside for those who continue to connect via dial up is that they will become increasingly frustrated by the move towards rich media. So, how fat is your pipe?