"come on f-Er, just load!" Powerlessness, waiting, and life without broadband

Waiting is a way of experiencing the effects of power. This article finds those waiting for fixed broadband connection are powerless to end the waiting and increasingly frustrated with the powerful-the governmental officials, policy makers, and broadband providers-who control their waiting. This article, built on 19 interviews with residents of a rural county in the United States, details the lived experiences of those waiting for a fixed broadband connection and shines a critical light on the unequal power dynamics of digital inequality and waiting. The findings demonstrate residents suffer from "chronic waiting"for a connection. They also wait while using the internet, via inferior mobile connections, laboring through issues such as buffering. Finally, the findings illustrate the only way to avoid "technology-induced waiting"is to wait in alternative ways, including turning into a "second-shift"family to enjoy internet service in the middle of the night.