Living in a post-modem world

Blimey. Talk about digital divides... yesterday the BBC [BBC News 24, 2 January 2007] reported that by the end of this month 13 million households in the UK will be connected to broadband. That's half the households in Britain for Tim's sake. It's all because there are over 200 broadband providers in the UK, all fighting for an ever dwindling population of customers, and all being so competitive that by the end of 2007 half of them will be dead in the water.

Got me thinking... if half of all UK households can now access high speed Internet what can we expect?

• Firstly, more people will be watching video and other megabyte hungry media on their pcs - does this mean the death of terrestrial broadcasting? Will YouTube replace Channel 4?
• Secondly, more people will pay to download music from the Internet and less will be going into town to buy CDs. Is the end of HMV and Virgin Records in sight?
• Thirdly, more people will be shopping on Amazon, E-Bay and other online retailers than before. Get your food delivered direct to your doorstep by Tesco or Sainsbury! (It's a shame we can't get our rubbish collected from our doorstep by the local council. They haven't been around for almost 2 weeks over the Christmas break and the wheelie bins are disgusting).

Yesterday Rupert Goodwins of ZDNet UK was interviewed by BBC News. He remarked that 'the Internet is non-geographical' (as he sat firmly on a seat in the Edinburgh studio). I think I know what he means, but then he went too far with 'everyone is now online'. I don't think so. My Mum and Dad are steadfastly non-Internet and so is my rabbit Charlie (although I am thinking of breaching privacy rules and placing a webcam in his hutch), and I reckon there are one or two others in the UK who are just not interested :-P. So we still have a digital divide and it's not just those who have and don't have broadband. It's also those who couldn't care less about the Web.