I just ran into a great personal account on how bad broadband is in Northwestern Minnesota. The post comes from a recent graduate (or maybe current college student) from Northern Minnesota now living in Minneapolis. Sounds like he went home from Thanksgiving and his broadband-lacking childhood came rushing back to him.

The post sounded a lot like the students we heard from at the Blandin Broadband conference – and all of it demonstrates that there is a growing expectation of access to broadband. Here’s an excerpt:

Nearly every day, I check one of my various email accounts using my phone, play World of Warcraft, listen to internet radio or podcasts, watch television shows or movies on Hulu and Netflix, or download media legally via some digital distribution service. Sometimes I engage in any number of the aforementioned simultaneously. This is just what I do with the internet. It comes as natural to me as riding a bike and feels as vital as food. Call it mental food if you want.