US sleeping through 30 years of telecomm's revolution

The Atlanta Marriott. Big hotel, giant atrium, thirty balconies with countless rooms tower over three floors with conference centre, restaurants, shops. All rooms offer broadband internet.

Until you need to send a fax. 'Sir, what kind of number is this?' It's a number in Hong Kong, why? Well, because in that case we can't send it. Can't send it, why on Earth not? Turns out, the fax doesn't accept international numbers. 'We can send faxes to every desination in the U.S. of A., Sir. But not outside. You see, it's very expensive so we can't allow it.'

This is a flophouse with $200 rooms. They cannot send a fax outside the country. Weirdest thing is, this is not the first time this happened to me. Americans are still provincials at heart.