1900, Electricity and "socialism"....

Interesting article comparing access to electricty in 1900 with access to the internet in 2009 - particuarly relevant to the USA where it seems that any provision of any service by "the government" is seem as some form of "socialism" (or nazism - depends on the day) .... note the quotes! Anyway:

The Killer App of 1900

by Glenn Fleishman, 12/11/2009, 11:18 AM

just a small quote:

It’s instructional to look back 100 years, not long after the first electrical generation plants were built to bring power to towns and cities, to assess the situation we find ourselves in with broadband availability today.
At the turn of the century, electricity was largely used for electrical lighting to replace gas lighting. Gas required distribution of a flammable substance all over a city, and wasn’t practical outside of dense, urban areas. Electrical power also needed to be distributed, but the generation source—coal or water—could be in one place