the buzz log

Britain may have invented the lightbulb, the steam engine, and toilet paper, but trailblazing the Internet isn't among the country's strengths.

One-third of Britain's population is without home Internet access. Prime Minister Gordon Brown is hell-bent on getting his countrymen (and women) broadband access (at 2 megabytes per second, mind you) in three years, at a cost of $328 million. The British leader even declared in an op-ed piece for The Times (UK) that the "internet is as vital as water and gas," and essential to the UK as "bridges, roads and railways" were during the Industrial Revolution.

Before any Americans start snickering at Brits being the Luddites of the Internet world, check this Census figure out: 62% of American households connect to the Web from home. And the kids aren't helping either: About 88% of 12-to-14 year old Americans surf, but 100% of British kids that age do so. When was the last time you could get every single teen to do something?

Barack Obama, who counts Internet President among his many informal titles, has done a lot of talk about getting every American online. However the recession will pose some problems in getting Web access to poor and rural areas. The good news is that more people are signing up for high-speed access (and even paying more for it). That might lift the U.S. dismal ranking of No. 15 out of 30 countries for broadband subscribers (per 100 inhabitants—America leads in sheer numbers since the population's huge). United Kingdom on that same list? No. 13.

But maybe Britain—and the U.S. for that matter—should slow down on all this Web stuff. The Annenberg Center for the Digital Future polled about 2,030 people and found more Americans are spending less family time, but more (online) social networking time. Perhaps all those Brits who lead a Web-less life know something after all.