People who say we don't need Gigabit Internet are missing the bigger picture. Content will continue to evolve, and the consumption of content is going to grow.
We need to be forward thinking with our infrastructure in order to accommodate and facilitate that evolution. If we continuously stay mired in the idea that, "aww... this is good enough," then we will never progress. It won't be just about watching 4K streaming movies either. Eventually, the Internet will need to support much more advanced concepts like fully-HD, real-time video teleconferencing and other forms of long-distance instant communication.
Yes. This is true. I am not saying people don't need Gig internet ever. Fiber build-outs are becoming cheaper than copper. Older cable systems will need to be upgraded eventually, and fiber is set to replace them. AT&T (and other DSL providers) and Time Warner Cable (and other cable providers) need to jump on the fiber train. They won't get left behind, but keeping the copper networks in place will just give them more fuel to complain to the FCC that the cost to upgrade is outlandish as they willfully let their copper networks degrade.
Finally, our PCs have become so fast that the Internet (at current average speeds across the country) has become the bottleneck.
This is concept is so extremely under-appreciated. I have customers using Windows 95/ME/XP still. I tell them that the reason their service is slow is because the computer wasn't ever meant to do the things we can do on the internet now. Just because you have a NIC in the back does not mean your computer's CPU/GPU can process the information being sent to it.
And I think you're not giving us enough credit. Most of us, the majority, I would guess, are pretty damn tech savvy. I'm not missing the bigger picture, and I don't think anyone else is here either. Content will continue to evolve. Of course. But it's going to be YEARS before I have a 4K or 8K or whatever the heck is next TV. For my needs. Today. I without doubt do not need more then the 15M I have now. Online PC gaming?? Plenty. Streaming Netflix and Amazon at the same time? Plenty.
Talk to me in 2 years. 4. Hell, Goog Fiber probably won't hit CLE for another 15 years anyway. Not because there's anything wrong with CLE, we're just not hip enough.
We are taking about today, right? 
For the average person, 500Mbps would probably be too much. I would even venture to say that 250Mbps would be too much. The 15Mbps service you talk about now is good for you. With the same plan on a business account, twice as much money is spent, and you don't get much upload. It would kill me. I have to be able to upload and download large files (mainly backups) to and from the server at my house. Fiber with 1Gbps would not only let me do this, I can do it fast!!
To kind of piggyback off
@dgstorm was saying, it's not that people here aren't Tech Savvy. All I really have to say is this: People, a lot of people, drool all over how awesome their phone is, and what kind of specs it has. That is how I feel about my internet.
4k video is another useless standard. That garbage shouldn't even be allowed to take up bandwidth because nobodies eyes can tell the difference, anyway.
Yes, you most certainly can tell the difference. Maybe not in any of the TVs on the market today, but anything larger than 50" you are going to see the difference. All 4K is is exactly 4x 1080p. Then you also have UHD (UltraHD).
Honestly, all Google Fiber is doing is making the the cable and DSL companies look bad. DSL will never get to the speeds DOCSIS 3.0 can, and it will go away eventually. The DOCSIS 3.1 standard I believe supports gig, but I just don't see the major companies in the US deploying it.[/QUOTE]
