I am using Google's, but that isn't really the point; the point is that in real-world usage, the example in the article of a multi-Mbit connection ending up with Kbit-level throughput due to being routed to the wrong CDN is very unlikely if you live in the U.S. or Europe. It would require either a really broken TCP stack, or gigantic satellite-internet-level latencies for latency to constrain throughput that much.
Yes, you are probably right about the throughput. The latency problems are very valid though, and make websites seem remarkably slower.
I live in Australia at the end of a very long trans-pac pipe, and properly configured CDNs make a huge difference. A great example is how a few cheap ISPs here route based on price, not latency. That meant that when Amazon opened their Singapore dataceter a visitor from Australia (using one of these ISPs) could be routed via the US West Coast.
