# Why would anyone oppose Nationwide Wi-Fi? **URL:** \ **Category:** Great Debates\ **Created:** [December 12, 2008, 6:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-would-anyone-oppose-nationwide-wi-fi/476913 "2008-12-12T18:30:02Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 14\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![Oakminster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/77aa72/32.png) [@Oakminster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Oakminster)\ **Post date:** [December 13, 2008, 7:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-would-anyone-oppose-nationwide-wi-fi/476913/61 "2008-12-13T07:06:13Z")
> [@HoboStew](#): > > So all I have left now is this: Am I the only one here who thinks the internet is not getting enough credit in this thread? I’m seeing it casually likened to fast food and dismissed as checking email. Really? Having the whole world’s knowledge at one’s fingertips is that irrelevant? This might be a more interesting debate than the OP. To me this isn’t fast food, this is electricity or water. I get just as bummed when the internet goes out as I do during a general power outage. The country depends on electricity for just about every aspect of daily life. Food storage, cooking, heating, cooling, light, etc. The internet is neat…but we did fine with out it prior to the mid 90s. We could live without it tommorrow. The internet is a convenience, not a necessity. ---
**Author:** ![HoboStew](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/f17d59/32.png) [@HoboStew](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HoboStew)\ **Post date:** [December 13, 2008, 7:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-would-anyone-oppose-nationwide-wi-fi/476913/62 "2008-12-13T07:27:13Z")
> [@Oakminster](#): > > The country depends on electricity for just about every aspect of daily life. Food storage, cooking, heating, cooling, light, etc. The internet is neat…but we did fine with out it prior to the mid 90s. We could live without it tommorrow. The internet is a convenience, not a necessity. We did fine with out electricity prior to the mid 1700s. We could live without it tommorrow. Electricity is a convenience, not a necessity. ---
**Author:** ![Oakminster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/77aa72/32.png) [@Oakminster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Oakminster)\ **Post date:** [December 13, 2008, 7:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-would-anyone-oppose-nationwide-wi-fi/476913/63 "2008-12-13T07:44:09Z")
> [@HoboStew](#): > > We did fine with out electricity prior to the mid 1700s. We could live without it tommorrow. Electricity is a convenience, not a necessity. Nope. Electricity has come to be a necessity of modern life. Without it, a substantial portion of the workforce can’t work. Food spoils, society is disrupted…hell, you couldn’t even drive across town without massive traffic jams because none of the signals work without electricity. Without the internet…people watch cable, read books, go to librarys, or otherwise entertain themselves. The internet just isn’t at the level of “got to have it” yet. ---
**Author:** ![HoboStew](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/f17d59/32.png) [@HoboStew](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HoboStew)\ **Post date:** [December 13, 2008, 8:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-would-anyone-oppose-nationwide-wi-fi/476913/64 "2008-12-13T08:00:24Z")
> [@Oakminster](#): > > Nope. Electricity has come to be a necessity of modern life. Without it, a substantial portion of the workforce can’t work. Food spoils, society is disrupted…hell, you couldn’t even drive across town without massive traffic jams because none of the signals work without electricity. > > Without the internet…people watch cable, read books, go to librarys, or otherwise entertain themselves. The internet just isn’t at the level of “got to have it” yet. Sure, NOW it is. In 1767, that might have been a harder argument to make. 150 years from now, I am sure the idea of not having access to the internet will sound as silly to those folk as not having access to electricity now will sound to our folk. ---
**Author:** ![Oakminster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/77aa72/32.png) [@Oakminster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Oakminster)\ **Post date:** [December 13, 2008, 8:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-would-anyone-oppose-nationwide-wi-fi/476913/65 "2008-12-13T08:23:48Z")
> [@HoboStew](#): > > Sure, NOW it is. In 1767, that might have been a harder argument to make. 150 years from now, I am sure the idea of not having access to the internet will sound as silly to those folk as not having access to electricity now will sound to our folk. But you are arguing that in today’s world, the internet is as important as electricity or water. That simply is not the case. ---
**Author:** ![Magiver](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/4491bb/32.png) [@Magiver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Magiver)\ **Post date:** [December 13, 2008, 9:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-would-anyone-oppose-nationwide-wi-fi/476913/66 "2008-12-13T09:08:48Z")
> [@HoboStew](#): > > Forgot to add, [Philly’s also is toast](http://arstechnica.com/news.ars/post/20080513-philadelphias-municipal-wifi-network-to-go-dark.html). Has anyone done this successfully? I remember London trying to hardwire park benches for internet use. Talk about a technology that got leap-frogged. Can’t imagine what that debacle cost. ---
**Author:** ![HoboStew](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/f17d59/32.png) [@HoboStew](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HoboStew)\ **Post date:** [December 13, 2008, 6:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-would-anyone-oppose-nationwide-wi-fi/476913/67 "2008-12-13T18:11:13Z")
> [@Oakminster](#): > > But you are arguing that in today’s world, the internet is as important as electricity or water. That simply is not the case. I am arguing that the internet is today what electricity was 15 years after it was invented. I stand by that assertion. ---
**Author:** ![brickbacon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/898d66/32.png) [@brickbacon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/brickbacon)\ **Post date:** [December 13, 2008, 6:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-would-anyone-oppose-nationwide-wi-fi/476913/68 "2008-12-13T18:35:36Z")
> [@HoboStew](#): > > I am arguing that the internet is today what electricity was 15 years after it was invented. I stand by that assertion. I think your outlook is far too optimistic. E-commerce, and the billions it brings in would go away. Overnight, hundreds of billions of dollars disappear along with millions of jobs. Google, Yahoo, Ebay, Amazon, etc. evaporate. Banking becomes far more complicated and less efficient, as does everyday business. Losing the internet would be spectacularly destructive in our modern society. ---
**Author:** ![Oakminster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/77aa72/32.png) [@Oakminster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Oakminster)\ **Post date:** [December 13, 2008, 6:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-would-anyone-oppose-nationwide-wi-fi/476913/69 "2008-12-13T18:51:54Z")
> [@HoboStew](#): > > I am arguing that the internet is today what electricity was 15 years after it was invented. I stand by that assertion. Oh, is that what you’re saying now? Earlier you said: > [@HoboStew](#): > > This might be a more interesting debate than the OP. To me this isn’t fast food, this is electricity or water. I get just as bummed when the internet goes out as I do during a general power outage. So apparently you’re just gonna move the goalposts whenever you find it convenient. ---
**Author:** ![HoboStew](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/f17d59/32.png) [@HoboStew](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HoboStew)\ **Post date:** [December 13, 2008, 7:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-would-anyone-oppose-nationwide-wi-fi/476913/70 "2008-12-13T19:09:45Z")
Huh? Where in those quotes am I moving goalposts? My first quote in your post compares it to the early years of electricty, my second quote says it is like electricity or water, along with my personal anecdotal evidence. What’s your point? Maybe 15 years isn’t enough time, maybe its 30 years i dunno, however long it took for electricity to be prolific but not ubiquitous. Anyways I still think the analogy is valid. ---
**Author:** ![Oakminster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/77aa72/32.png) [@Oakminster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Oakminster)\ **Post date:** [December 13, 2008, 7:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-would-anyone-oppose-nationwide-wi-fi/476913/71 "2008-12-13T19:35:37Z")
> [@HoboStew](#): > > Huh? Where in those quotes am I moving goalposts? My first quote in your post compares it to the early years of electricty, my second quote says it is like electricity or water, along with my personal anecdotal evidence. What’s your point? > > Maybe 15 years isn’t enough time, maybe its 30 years i dunno, however long it took for electricity to be prolific but not ubiquitous. Anyways I still think the analogy is valid. You spent most of the thread arguing that internet access is absolutely vital to everyone today…now you’re saying “um…well, if it isn’t vital today, it will be in 150 years”. (See Post #64) ---
**Author:** ![Indistinguishable](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/90ced4/32.png) [@Indistinguishable](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Indistinguishable)\ **Post date:** [December 13, 2008, 7:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-would-anyone-oppose-nationwide-wi-fi/476913/72 "2008-12-13T19:49:45Z")
If Internet access were absolutely vital to everyone today while not everyone already has access, we’d be fucked already. **HoboStew** ’s argument cannot be that. The argument must be that by instituting policies today to provide universal access, we bring about a better future, one whose riches will come to be accepted as absolutely vital, even with the understanding that, like those of electricity, people once had to make do without. ---
**Author:** ![HoboStew](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/f17d59/32.png) [@HoboStew](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HoboStew)\ **Post date:** [December 13, 2008, 7:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-would-anyone-oppose-nationwide-wi-fi/476913/73 "2008-12-13T19:53:25Z")
I likened the internet to electricity. Then I expanded on that idea, comparing it to the earlier days of electricity, the idea being the internet is today what electricity was when it was pretty well established but not plug-in-every-wall ubiquitous. I think electricity was vital then, I think the internet is vital now. **Indistinguishable** has the right idea. ---
**Author:** ![Magiver](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/4491bb/32.png) [@Magiver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Magiver)\ **Post date:** [December 14, 2008, 5:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-would-anyone-oppose-nationwide-wi-fi/476913/74 "2008-12-14T17:08:53Z")
> [@HoboStew](#): > > I likened the internet to electricity. Then I expanded on that idea, comparing it to the earlier days of electricity, the idea being the internet is today what electricity was when it was pretty well established but not plug-in-every-wall ubiquitous. I think electricity was vital then, I think the internet is vital now. **Indistinguishable** has the right idea. We have univeral access already just as we do with electricity. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-would-anyone-oppose-nationwide-wi-fi/476913.md?page=3)