Internet deserts

Nick Thieme

Not so long ago, I watched my partner of 10 years grow anxious then angry as the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) website frustrated her attempts to file for the student loans she needs to pay for classes. After an hour of this, she took a break and I asked if there was any other way to file FAFSA forms. After all, I'd only ever seen them online. She was as stumped as me.

For good or bad, online gateways are our sole practicable points of entry to student loans, job markets, higher education, and to culture. Sure, in some cases you can print a resume and mail it accross the country to a hiring manager or go to the library to read the right books, magazines, and newspapers, but you're disadvantaged by living on a time delay if you do, and the cases where that's possible are fewer each year.

With the average websites' file size growing because of video and more complicated code, are internet speeds increasing fast enough to keep up?