LABJ FORUM: High Speed vs. Dial Up
The percentage of Web users who have high-speed Internet access in their homes has risen to 24 percent, up from 17 percent a year earlier. While most companies provide their employees with high-speed connections in their offices, the Business Journal asks: Do you have high-speed Internet access in your home?
Robin Coe-Hutshing
Owner/Creative Director
Fred Segal Essentials
Yes, I do. I wanted it long before it was available in my area and was on a waiting list. I have a home office and quick access to information is imperative. People are always sending me things, and it allows me to open e-mails and respond quickly. I also use the Internet as a research tool for business to research a brand, ingredients, or packaging. I’d go crazy if I had to wait for things to load like I used to.
Alex Padilla
Los Angeles City Council President
Yes. I have access through Verizon in my home, primarily to catch up with e-mails, scheduling, and Internet browsing that I am not able to do in the office, because I am running around or chasing phone calls during the day. Many of the groups in my district have digital cameras, and they take pictures with their families or kids and we put them up on our Web site. I confess, I also use it to check the Dodgers Web site to see how they are doing.
Gary Dickey
Partner, Technology Media and Telecommunications Practice
Deloitte & Touche LLP
I do. It’s a great benefit, it lets me tie into the office network seamlessly. In my practice, I work with technology based companies and handle large files. Before, the transfer speeds took forever. But now I can work at home as if I am in the office. On the personal side, I’m involved in digital photography and it enables to me to transfer files quickly.
Eve Kurtin
Managing Director
Pacific Venture Group
Yes I do. I have it linked into our office server. It allows me to work in a lot more efficient manner. I have two children, and they can do their communications with friends, research and homework a lot faster. I was on a waiting list for residential service in my area and was one of the first to have it in my neighborhood.
Mitch Gordon
Vice President
LessonLab
Yes. My business is highly dependent upon broadband connections, and is very video-centric. To produce quality video streaming, broadband is critical. It’s productivity enhancing I can check e-mail, send and receive things quickly without waiting for dial ups. I am able to be as effective at home as in the office.
Andy Parsons
Senior Vice President
Pioneer Electronics
Yes, I’ve set up a wireless network in our house that gives me, my wife and our girls high-speed Internet access with the flexibility to answer e-mail or surf the Web anywhere we might be in the house. My wife can take the laptop in the kitchen or out on the patio to check e-mail. The girls primarily use it to research information for school projects. We’re a pretty wired family that takes advantage of all the newest digital technologies like digital cameras, the Internet and DVD recording.
Jason Eng
Sales & Marketing Manager
Screenplay Systems Inc.
I don’t. I have looked into it, but since I’m connected all day at work, the last thing I’m thinking about when I get home is getting on the computer again. I couldn’t justify the cost of using it at home. I’ll get it eventually the few times I do use it at home, my dial-up modem has been painfully slow.
Karen Murphy O’Brien
Chairman & CEO
Murphy O’Brien Inc.
Yes. My high speed Internet enables me to stay in touch with my senior editor friends in the media and to access my Internet hard drive through Xdrive.com. With a 4-year-old and a newborn at home, high-speed access is a must.
Earl Navalta
Corporate Recruiter
Fox Cable Networks Group
No. It’s too expensive, and I have it at work. I’ve looked into it and I really don’t need it for home. I have a dial-up connection but I wait for the times where there is not as much traffic going on, which is after 11 on weekdays. Weekends are pretty good. It’s the 7-11 pm time slot that makes it difficult to download files. If I did get DSL, it would be to download music from music sites those sites always take a long time.
