Analogue and noband Britain

Shopping for a monitor/tv today, I ventured into British retail chain PC World and Currys stores.

As usually, it was great fun. In the PC World, I had to explain to the Asian salesperson what the “native resolution” was. And in the Currys, I gave a lecture to guy of the same origin on a miracle called extended desktop as he had no idea it’s possible to do in Windows. It was a James Cook on a Pacific island moment, he brought mirrors and nails.

That sort of sums up my week, IT-wise. Britain is a country where you need to have a 19th century technology (that’s telephone) to get your Interent connection. And when you get it, you’re limited to frankly pathetic ADSL speeds.

I’ve never had a day without several signal dropouts on a UK cell network and don’t get me started on mobile broadband.

In Michalovce, a 50-thousand town in Eastern Slovakia struggling with long-term high unemployment, there are four companies offering high-speed fibre optic internet connection and digital TV with speeds outpacing anything available in the UK. It’s something London’s City can only dream of. Which is why Britain as a broadband country just doesn’t exist.

Oh, and to call a customer service you need to dial a premium charge number. A sort of sex over the phone, but only if you and your purse are into an IT S&M…