When in Rome...

Rai, I heard something interesting on the radio the other day. It was mentioned that of all the European nations, it is Italy that has the lowest per capita internet access. Not only do most homes not have internet, but there is also an overwhelming lack of wifi hotspots in Italian cities. A Dane who was being interviewed told about how shocked he was to find that less than 2% of Rome is covered by wifi as compared to his native Copenhagen at 100% coverage.
It's not that Italians are not tech-savvy or unwilling to accept change. Italy was one of the first nation's to embrace cell phones completely. So, why not the internet? To seek the answer to this question, we took you down to North Beach, San Francisco's 'Little Italy'. Surely, we could find the answer to this puzzling question in our little piece of the Old World's boot. And, we did.
North Beach is packed, day and night, weekday and weekend. The few main streets are lined with cafes and restaurants with seating spilling out onto the patios. The main park, Washington Square, is equally busy with most good grass space taken up at any hour of the day. Having spent a month in Italy, we can say that this is not too different an atmosphere than can be found in Roma, or Napoli, or Firenze, Venezia, or any other Italian city. Italians love to to chat. There is a welcoming cafe, warm espresso, and friendly face waiting for you on every corner. With a half dozen sit down spots waiting for you just outside your door, why stay indoors? Why live virtually when such a vibrant real world is just outside your window. Take it slow, live life, enjoy! That's the Italian way.
The internet doesn't seem to fit that lifestyle and while we sat around in the grass of Washington Square, minutes turned to hours and the afternoon was gone before we knew it. Did we think of the internet once? Certainly not.