Here’s the result of a “speed test” of the Internet connection at my apartment in Copenhagen:
My “down” speed is 18 times faster than my “up” speed. Which means that my ability to consume Internet content is more than satisfactory, every time I try to produce content — upload Flickr photos, add large attachments to blog posts and so on — my connection (and indeed my computer) grinds to a halt.
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For reference, my Eastlink cable connection here at home (and then over wifi) gives me:
3240kb/s down, and;
739kp/s up
Dovetails perfectly with the net neutrality concerns: The ISP’s want to provide us everything (at a price), not help us serve ourselves.
It’s not actually something so sinister, Oliver. Since most people download more than they upload, the ISPs devote more of the timing on their links to download so you can get better speeds. On cable networks it’s pretty much a necessity, on DSL they just do it to come closer to the download speeds of cable connections.
Besides, 80kB/sec means you are uploading a typical picture in a few seconds. Not exactly a throwback to the days of dialup…