Midmorning with Aundrea - August 5, 2020 (Part 1)

(Part 1 of 2) In the days of coronavirus, many people have had to put their summer vacations on hold, but some people have started to enjoy camping trips to nearby state parks.

And how have people in rural areas with limited or no Internet been able to go online during the pandemic?

We'll take a look.

And with coronavirus shutting down gatherings, many industries which ordinarily unveil their new offerings in convention centers are forced to find new ways to get their products in front of consumers.

We'll see how toy manufacturers are going virtual.

Before moving home during thewh when one day just blends in with the other, you may long to get away from the sameness of it all.

One park manager in tennessee says he's seeing more families leave home and travel a few miles to have vacations at parks in their state.

Here's a good look at why.

While some families are having to cancel their summer vacations -- others are just looking at different ways to travel!

For cedars of lebanon state park -- that means more visitors...and their cabins being booked at nearly full capacity every week.

Jeff buchanan/sot "i suppose it people wanting to get out during the pandemic...we offer an open area for them to exercise in and plenty of room for them to spread out here" according to a recent report -- more rvs and travel trailers are being sold this spring and early summer than the same time last year.

The report -- by kampgrounds of america -- showed that while many travellers have cancelled or postponed international and domestic trips requiring air travel, 41 percent of campers say they still plan to take their camping trips this year.

Buchan says this doesn't surprise him at all.

Jeff buchanan/sot "we have a lot o trails and a lot of miles on those trails and good open places for people to spread out and spend time with family here so they are taking advantage of it and it's not just experienced campers taking advantage of the outdoors... jeff buchanan/sot "now we're gettin a lot of first timers from the pandemic whichis silver ling for that cloud for parks...a lot of people are now using this and realizing its a good place to spend free time a popular trend buchan is also seeing -- staycations... meaning they're not only getting out-of-state folks but mostly campers from nearby.

Seena sleem newschannel5.

In southwest in southwest michigan one couple has a campground with all the fun - but a little more glamour.

Kristin bien reports there is no sleeping on the ground.

Amongst the trees.... and along the banks... of the dowagiac creek... sits glamp camp... "the respons from people this summer has been overwhelmingly grateful, thankful to be outdoors."

Lynn and jeff robson own r creekside glamp camp.

It is a beautiful, private campsite, that they rent out of people who want to unplug... be in nature... and camp in style.

"it is glamorou camping so it is step up.

It is some amenities provide creature comforts so people can just pull in and they don't have to bring a lot of stuff with them."

It is basically... all the things you love about camping... with none of the things you don't.

"but with the littl intentional things we have noticed it makes a huge difference in just being able to decompress."

Campers can sleep on a comfy queen- sized bed in a screened-in 80 year old chicken coop or a platform tent... both are decorated beautifully.

There is a cozy bathroom with a private outdoor shower.

You get a hot breakfast every morning.

You can go kayaking... or relax near the water.

"it is absolutel like a cool experience.

They hear the peepers, the grogs, see the fire flys, to see everything that has happened out here in nature."

The robson's camp offers lots of places to decompress... and reconnect... "i will tell you people just sit and they are still.

For couples it is magical.

It is moment in time where you just get to talk and be still and spend time with each other."

And there are future plans to add other features like a zipline... "that tree down t that landing."

The robsons glamp camp has been so popular... they are nearly book for the year.

And it's no wonder... because when you visit... you won't want to leave.

If this appeals to if this appeals to you, you can find them on airbnb and glampinghub dot com.

There is also a facebook page.

But the glamp camp only has a few open days during the week through october.

If your internet is slower than christmas, you're not alone.

People around the country have little to no service this may be a familiar story to many of us.

Esepcially to those of us who live in the country - with slow internet of no internet.

David pogue has more.

Dp : after she earned her master's degree, writer karie fugett bought this little farm in rural oregon.

It seemed to have everything: beauty, affordability, and a 30-minute drive to the city.

But she quickly discovered one thing that wasn't available: karie: 00:07:17 we don't have internet.

It's-- we haven't been successful getting it out here yet.

Pogue: 00:09:59 so you must be able to get online somehow.

Karie: 00:10:03 when there isn't a pandemic, i go to a library, or i go to a restaurant or a cafe.

/now, since the pandemic, all of those places are closed down.

If i need internet,/ taco bell has been very reliable, so i go there.

Pogue: 00:11:04 so-- so you're a professional writer.

And to get online to do your research or your correspondence, you-- you park at a taco bell?

Karie: 00:11:15 i do.

And i don't feel like a professional writer when i'm parked at a taco bell.

I usually feel pretty embarrassed.

Dp: as modern americans, we count among our blessings that most of us have been able to keep going through this pandemic -working, educating our kids, consulting with our doctors- thanks to broadband internet-that is, high-speed internet.

There's only one problem: gi: 00:14:20 well, life can't go on if you're not connected.

And tens of millions of americans are not connected to broadband internet.

Gi at congressional hearing pop: the digital divide affects every region of our country.

Dp : gigi sohn worked for the fcc during the obama administration.

Pogue: 00:09:27 how many americans still don't have broadband?

Gi: 00:09:37 the number of people who don't have broadband depends on who you ask.

If you ask the federal communications commission, they'll say it's only something along the lines of 20, 23 million people, and that is a grossly undercounted number.

/microsoft has done a study that showed 162 million americans don't have broadband at the speeds that the fcc defines broadband.

Graphic #1 dp : if you're scoring at home, that's about half the population with either very slow internet or none at all.

Pogue: 00:10:41 why does the fcc so hugely undercount the number of people?

Gi: what the fcc says is, / if you can serve one person in the census block, that means you're serving everybody in the census block.

Dp : census blocks are map regions that the government uses for reporting population.

A census block can be anything from one city block to hundreds of square miles in rural areas.

Pogue: 00:12:19 if i'm the fcc, and there's 5,000 people living in a census block, and one guy has broadband internet, i can record that as 5,000 people?

Gi: 00:12:54 oh, i'm sure it's not only possible, i-- i'm sure that is absolutely the case.

Dp : but having no broadband internet isn't the whole problem.

Millions of communities have broadband, according to the fcc-but in the real world, it's too slow to matter.

Graphic #2 this is the fastest internet speed available in america& this is the average speed& &and this is what the fcc defines as broadband.

It's not very fast.

Graphic #3 dp : they'd love to have that minimal speed here in georgetown, maine.

The fcc says this coastal community has broadband internet, because residents can sign up for dsl service.

That's digital subscriber line -- basically internet over the phone wires.

But in practice& tommie: 00:26:39 basically it's terrible.

It is absolutely awful.

We-- most of the time, we have little to none.

And only occasionally does it get up to mediocre.

It's really bad.

Dp : resident tommie burke says that it got even worse once everyone started staying at home during the pandemic.

And worse yet, once the summer residents arrived at their vacation homes.

Tommie: 00:27:10 the fact that lots of people are up here now that aren't normally here all the time, the internet is even worse.

Dp : as the new school year begins, many students will be doing remote learning-over the internet.

But for maine residents like high-schooler kiernan mann, that's often impossible.

Kiernan: 00:32:53 taking notes in class with the internet is pretty hard.

'cause the screen might freeze and i can't hear anybody.

And then they might just go through all the notes without me.

And i have to catch up.

ááá dp : in cities like austin, texas, so many kids weren't online last semester that the school system had to print and mail 40,000 homework packets a week.

And this coming semester they're filling school buses with portable wi-fi hot spots, and parking them near apartment complexes where a lot of people have no broadband service.

Now, you might say: "austin?

Shin star of high-tech american cities?"

But according to gi sohn, austin illustrates the biggest broadband problem of all.

Gi: 00:16:13 the vast majority of americans who don't have internet access, // is because they can't afford it.

Because the price is too high.

Graphic #4 dp : and sure enough: the u.s. has the third most- expensive broadband internet in the developed world.

That's largely due to a lack of competition.

Pogue: 00:17:12 so we shouldn't necessarily be complaing, "oh the wires just aren't there in the ground."

It's just- a money problem.

Gi: 00:17:27 oh, we should be complaing about both.

The lack of actual network infrastructure in many places but also the cost.

ááá dp on-cam: the thing is we've fixed problems like this before.

Dp vo: in 1934, only 11% of rural americans had electricity.

President franklin roosevelt created the rural electrification administration - pop - announcer: new lines going up almost everywhere at the rate of 500 miles a day.

Dp vo: and within 20 years, 90% of those homes had cheap, reliable electricity.

ááádp : now, over the years, the government has come up with a basket of programs designed to help with internet affordability and accessibility.

Unfortunately, sohn says, they haven't always worked as designed.

Gi sohn: 00:18:27 the fcc has now, for well over a decade, paid out tens of billions of dollars to rural broadband companies to build internet access in places where there isn't any.

And the fact of the matter is, is that the government has gotten a very, very poor return on its investment.

// this fcc, and i'll even say, you know, the fcc that i work for, has not done a very good job of demanding that these companies tell us, // what they've actually built with the money they've got.

Pogue: 00:49:21 this is not making the fcc look too good./ gi: 00:49:32 i don't think it's incompetence.

I think part of it is resources.

You know, the fcc's staff has shrunk enormously in the last decade or so.

Graphic #5 pop - senate chairman: you swear to tell the whole truth & dp : fcc chairman ajit pai declined our request for an interview.

But in a written response to our questions, the fcc says: "w ensure efficient, cost effective spending" o subsidies for rural broadband.

Earlier this year, congress passed a law requiring the fcc to improve the way it measures internet access.

But the fcc says that nothing will happen unless congress also pays for it.

Pai at hearing: 10:18:40 -the fcc simply does not have the $65 million we need to start that process and implement that law through its first year.

Vo: meanwhile, the agency is promoting new technologies like 5g cellular and low-earth orbit satellites that might address our broadband problems. someday.

But for now, most seem to agree on one thing: that especially these days, the internet should be considered a necessity.

Months into the pandemic, karie fugett ended up getting office space in town to go online: karie: 00:19:03 i think at this point it should be considered a utility, just like water or electricity.

/and especially now that we've experienced this pandemic-- we're seeing just how much we rely on it.

/ the difference between someone who has internet connection and someone who doesn't // is just too wide.

When we come back, you can look but you can't touch.

A look at the latest with coronavirus shutting down social gatherings industries that use conferences, conventions and other big in- person events to reveal new products have been forced to find new ways to get those new products in front of people.

That includes toys.

Laura podesta explains.

Pkg this is what a toy insider event looked like before the coronavirus.

Companies showing off their latest toys and kids putting them to the test.

"it really look like it's flying."

Two years ago chief toy officer laurie schact let us play with some of the new releases.

"almost got you.

Fast forward and this is what the toy party looks like during a pandemic - everything is virtual.

"01:46 this wa hard, really hard, probably one of the hardest things i personally that i personally have ever done in my life."

Toy companies set up virtual booths.

And those hands on experiences were replaced by a digital one.

Users entered a zoom room to see a new toy reveal..

Or chat with a toy company.

"ok you guys read to see what this toy is?

And it's not just toys.

"let's take a loo at the all new f- 150" ford was forced to do a virtual reveal of its new pickup now that car shows are cancelled.

"music and apple held its latest developers' conference in an empty auditorium.

"good morning an welcome to wwdc."

For the toy insider a digital event delivered an added bonus.

"we had a recor number of attendees this year.// we're a new york event but now that we're virtual we have coast to coast and canadian participation so people are there from all over."

Because of that schact says - even when things return to normal - future events will be a combination of in person and online.

A model that many other businesses are likely to follow.

Laura podesta, cbs news.

For some, it?s a hobby.

But for one couple, studying birds is a life's work.

Their story when mid