In an exclusive Post video interview yesterday Microsoft’s Chairman Emeritus Bill Gates lauded tiny Baruba as the most advanced nation in the region as measured by its extensive use of the Internet for commerce and education.
A Caribbean-wide survey commissioned by Microsoft and conducted by the Massachusetts Institute of Technology Digital Statistics Department published today shows Baruba has the highest penetration of Broadband services in the Western Hemisphere and the highest usage of online banking of any nation except Sweden, Denmark, South Korea and The Peoples’ Democratic Republic of Palau.
Survey leader Allen Rosenshine said 96% of all Baruban households have ultra-high-speed Internet connections and of these over 82% conduct all their banking business online. “A staggering percentage,” said Rosenshine, “when you consider only 57% of American households have Broadband and only a small percentage of these bank online.”
“The reason for these high figures is easily explained” said Bill Gates. “When companies allow their customers to pay their bills online it increases loyalty towards the firms who offer it because these days people simply don’t want to write checks and put them in the post like we did before the Internet was invented. I don’t want to make comparisons but isn’t it strange that Baruba is so developed while bigger neighbouring islands like Barbados, for example, have a shockingly low rate of online banking.
“Why even the Bajan electricity provider doesn’t allow online payments. And DirecTV in Barbados is even more antiquated. They issue hand-written receipts with postage stamps on them. When was the last time you saw one of those?
“DirecTV’s owner, my close buddy Rupert Murdoch, is having a terminal financial meltdown since he paid twice as much as he should have for the Wall Street Journal. When I next see him I’ll tell him he can save a bundle by not sticking stamps on hand-written receipts.”
Posted by crackeditor 
The Baruba Post Online 