42% of Americans don't use the internet
 

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Am I the only one amazed that this many people don't use the internet. WTF are people waiting on?

At least they didn't make it an online survey. :P

People, as a whole, are dumb. Look how long it took for people to get used to TV, and look how simple that was, relatively speaking. Now throw a computer in front of them, which pushes them to participate, and act, and do things, and they go nuts. They are so used to having things given to them, the very idea of interactivity just blows their mind. Young people are quicker to adopt, when they get the chance, but if their parents don't use the internet then it's harder. That's why public computers at librarys and ohter places are so important, they bring so many new people online.

Or it could be as simple as they have no interest.

Or, maybe they don't know how to read... Maybe...

On the other hand, one could be happy that them folks don't use the intrnet. Imagine what it would be like if there were twice as many of everything online?

My parents don't have internet. Yes, I think they live in a cave a lot of the time, and it is immensely frustrating to not have good internet access when I'm home from school. Their rationale is that the internet is a fad, there is nothing but porn on the net anyways, and a bunch of other b.s. excuses that don't hold water. The fact is some people are just laggards who are scared of technology and don't know how to handle it.

That is crazy especially since most businesses are online and you have to use it even if it's for company related mail.

I think alot of people are still intimidated by a computer. I would like to see a worthy stand alone wireless email/browsing interface come about that could be expanded into other things like a touch screen remote for your stereo/TV/,MP3 jukebox etc..

Well, yeah.
It's not like we have the most motivated population of interesting and interested citizens.
I mean, I can understand why 42% of the people I see have no great desire to come to terms with much information on their own.
I'd expect as the Internet becomes increasingly "bundled" and packaged by the cable and entertainment industries, usage will increase. But of course, like aol, it won't really be the Internet anymore at that point, will it?

I have basically replaced TV with the internet. One technology requires that I sit in front of it and react. That same technology pushes what others want me to react to at me.

The other technology demands interaction, thus thought, and sometimes a little learning is required. I also get to pull from the net what is interesting to me.

Why in the world would someone choose TV over the net?
Well, most people have been trained to be sheep. They like being sheep, and I don't expect a revolution anytime soon.
In the meantime those of us using and expanding our minds get in on the ground floor of a technology that will transform human society.

Consider yourself privleged.

I was at the library the other day and this male in his mid 20's was asking me to help him use the computer. He didn't even know how to use a mouse, I was shocked to say the least. I don't know how anyone could get so far in life without using a computer.

i believe it, youj gotta think how many people live out in the boonies or in apalacia, not much access to anything out there. Also here in the city i see it myself, we just don't have the money. Sure people do illegal taps into the phone lines, but that only lasts about 2 months then they deny service and the people are blocked out. A lot of people can't even afford a computer, i'm lucky i saved up for mine when i was younger. But that doesn't mean they don't want to some/most just use the comps at school

A lot of it is because so many Americans are elderly. It's pretty unlikely that many people over 70 or so are just going to grab a computer and start chatting - at least in my experience. Like the article said, half the people who're offline are over 50.

and 74% of statistics are made up on the spot.
 

I'd have to say that's a potentially loaded question. There are days when I can't find something, I get fed up and "don't want Internet access". There are also loads of days when I'm supposed to be getting other things done, like cleaning the strange growths from the bathroom. I definitely don't "need" Internet access on those days. :rolleyes:

On the other hand, I have no problem with the basic idea. Lots of poor or old people don't have computers or Internet access. Add in the poor spouses or siblings who can't even get to the computer because someone else's butt is planted in front of the screen all day, and you've probably got about half the country :D

they dont know what they're missing out on (porn mainly!)

3,553 people who happened to pick up their phone to answer survey questions and some groups in the baltimore/dc is hardly representative of the population of the united states... i'd be afraid to extrapolate on this one. heck, even my 79 year old *grandmother* uses the internet.

Don't forget that a large portion of America is not the America that we see most of the time, but rather a vast rural region in which people are slow to adopt new things and have little use for the internet anyway.

well that 42 percent havent been here

Agreed. I hardly ever watch tv any more. I usually only watch sports and a select few shows.

And here I thought EVERYONE used the internet... silly me.

Mmmm,

I don't think so, genka. The illiteracy in America is much much lower than that.

I think some people don't have computers, some older people have no interest (not needing one their whole lives, why start now) and some people are terminally intimidated.

I know I introduced a great uncle who never wanted a computer to the internet. Know the guy doesn't know how he got along without net access or a computer.

I still believe internet access is a new heighth of luxury in our society, but more importantly, there's not too much on there that really separates the economic classes of people.

Yet.

Also, making it accessible through something for less-than-technically-inclined people, preferably with a nice remote-control, would make great strides into reducing that 42%.

But I really wonder if there's enough information, or proper organization that changes everyday behaviour.

As a product, the internet is barely more interesting than cable TV, has yet to prove to make some serious money for anyone, and requires some determined users to configure/maintain connections.

42% sounds right. A little more than half my friends really give a grape pit about PC's and such, unless it can make them money without too much time.

Or get more porn faster. Which isn't the greatest motivator to learn about webcaches and forum rules.......

I moved to Madrid 9 months ago & i dont watch Tv anymore, partly due to the language barrier & partly due to hi-speed net over here. TV sucks ass, net rules.

Funny I thought the US would have high rates of internet activity.

Suppose we have to factor in the Baby Boomers (A lot of which have been slow to get "online") and their parents (as people now live longer) who would never get online. Both my olds are on it and almost all my US mates.
Makes me wonder what the stats are in other 1st world countries? hmm..

That's way too much porn going un-jacked-off to.

Beleive it or not I didnt even know what the internet was until 1999 when we got a computer at work. I saw all this www. whatever stuff and didnt even know what it was. Now I miss it if i go a few days without it.

Politics has intersted me for quite some time, and that was what drew me onto the web in the first place.

After exploring the web I realized that it was not somehow isolated from the wider political world. Learning that there was a political dimension to IT and the internet itself (anti-trust, open source, marketing spy cookies, etc) really encouraged me to learn as much as possible.

Although I wish others could see the social importance of being a little IT savvy, I do appreciate how my 85 year old grandmother can't see it and chastises me for not being "in the real world".

There were, after all, elements of her youth that I would never be able to conceptualize.

I would rather 20% of that 42% learn about cookies and spyware, than the whole 42% receive free Compaq plug-n-plays.

by dont use, they could mean on a regular basis.

i can think of some people like that

In other news, 42% of Americans are not addicted to porn.

you know, over 60 I think over 70 percent maybe of american's don't believe in evolution... seems like a lot of people don't believe in something that has so much support

Funny thing is though dan, the nether regions of the internet is the only place where creationism gets put on the same footing as evolution.

How many of the 42% would have http://www.chick.com/ bookmarked if they went online tomorrow? Scary thought...

at times, i envy those people. once in a while i go on vacation, and don't use a computer for many days... and i actually don't miss it.

lol
As if anyone would use the internet for something other than porn access :D

Yeah there are reasons if you look at the broad scale... Heck there are lots of Americans that rarely use it!!
Gatecrasher: yeah i know that feeling... everytime i look at my computer.. I don't mind getting on it to talk with people or play game or something, but when you get away from it... it feels kinda nice. But i wonder if I'd still have that feeling if i never had a computer?

Comical note: 42%!?!?! Man.. all those countless days making up for those 42%... Wasted!!!!

That's very high when you consider less then 1 in a 100 are comfortable enough to use a computer. That and looking around at the complex I'm at, this does not surprise me at all.

42% is VERY high, aside from the fact it's as good say my 1in100 #. I pulled out of my ass!

And the 58% that do use it are made up of:

10% People sending emails to "Mike Smith 17 Orlando Drive Potunk Texas"

10% 'Hardcore' gamers - Playing CS and downloading WaReZ

10% People at work reading slashdot and looking at porn

10% 14 Year old kids using AOL chat rooms and Sub7

10% Hopeless dorks - Currently posting on alt.starwars.is.real or reading Buffy fanfiction

5% 1337 Linux users - Currently unable to use the internet properly as they cannot find the 'Internet Explorer' icon on their desktop

3% People that know what they are doing - And you would want to be around if you made your own private internet

I'll leave it up to you to decide on your group

SHIT! With TFP back up (read porn) I had forgotten to check out Slashdot!! :D


....awww shucks. I thought I was in the 3% group :(

I work for a nonprofit that brings computers to people with no money. A lot of people out there have an interest in getting computers and going online but don't have the resources to get it and to learn it. I've come accross a few people in the churches we have put labs in that have no interest, but the vast majority seem to.

I know quite a few people that don't have or don't use the internet. they seem intimidated by the technology

I think it's cause people are scared to use it....tv is just plug in and go and either it works or doesn't.....Also some people don't like learning how to do anything new cause they figure it won't benefit them.

I think for older people, the "new" technology is intimidating. Also, they don't like seeming stupid in front of younger people, who would likely be teaching the course or helping them do stuff, so they just pretend like they're not interested. I may be making a huge generalization, but this has been the case in most of my observations and experiences. My step-grandfather really knew next to nothing about computers, and when he had trouble, he blamed the "stupid idiot" who was on duty in the nursing home computer center. The problem was with the ISP, not the computer lab, and the person on duty tried explaining that. My grandmother has never owned and will not buy a computer because 'it's too complicated.' If she wanted to, she could learn how to use one, but she's too worried to try. Then again, my mom's parents have a computer, and use it for the internet and email. They are less comfortable using a computer than many people I know, but they have figured out how to use their computer and the internet as much as they need it. I think most people though are too nervous and too worried about how they will look in front of others to try.

Then again, I'm not complaining... I just wish some of the other people on my campus would use the net less (so I can use more of the bandwidth, of course ;))

Well, it is often easy to overlook either those in poverty (who make up a sizeable portion of the population) and those who live on farms and stuff. So I'm not too surprised that there are a lot of people who aren't like us.

People are scared of new things, we should have just taken an existing product and put a clock in it or something.

I'm sure that percentage will continue to go down as the generation that was around prior to home computers fades out and the young generation of children grow up who are exposed to computers in the elementary schools.

My Grandpa says he doesn't want to use his computer at home for e-mail or anything else. He figures it would be too much work to really learn it and he has no use for it because he won't be around that much longer he figures. He has used it just a couple times but that's all. He's 88 so I can understand his reluctance. My parents are slowly learning their computer but aren't familiar at all with the internet as all they use is free Juno internet access on the rare occaisions that they need some information. Most of the time they call me and ask me to find it for them.

I remember describing to my parents what a 5 1/4 floppy looked like because they'd never seen one before. Granted we had a computer in our home by 1986 which was pretty early on but they have learned slowly.

My daughter on the other hand is 3 1/2 and uses the computer and internet more than I do some days. I never realized how many links and buttons had symbols instead of pictures until I watched her navigating with them. Learning the computer early on is probably the biggest key to encouraging people to use the computer. It will increase as my daughter's generation grows up. By the time she's entering the work force I wouldn't be surprised if the percentage of people who don't know how to use a computer is almost miniscule.

should see france...almost no on there has it in their own homes..all go to pc rooms

I was just thinking about this thread this morning when I saw in the paper that 75% of Americans have internet access at home now. Kind of ironic that this thread was dug up already so I didn't have to search for it.

There is nothing on the internet that I need that I can't get access to some other way. Yes, it is a convenience at times, but it is largely just a means for me to entertain myself and is no more necessary than television. In many way, I think my life would be better without either of these. Like most of you, I waste a lot of my life staring at one screen or the other rather than getting out and doing things. If people don't want the internet, I say more power to them. Life exists outside of these mediums and I think that a lot of people are missing out on it these days.

Hahahaha.

A new internet-led study shows that 99% of Americans use a computer, with 1% "not sure".

I think it is a good thing these people aren't online. As it is, too many of the people online shouldn't be here.

When I got on in 1991, there was no spam. The level of intelligence of people online was MUCH HIGHER, and it was more fun. The main problem with opening up the Net to the unwashed is that they might actually come in.

I applaud this if it's true.
The internet is fast becoming a haven for idiotic conspiracy theories, disinformation,propaganda and b.s. rhetoric from people with weird prejudiced and biased agendas.

The internet is great for valid research from well respected sites such as Universities and Medical Institutions.
It's a wealth of good information.
A virtual infinite library at your fingertips.

Other than that, it's a cesspool inundated by overly opinionated morons. They usually have little knowledge or any actaul experience of what they talk about. Most are usually condescending , insulting and derogatory.
The internet chat rooms are full of biased prejudiced ignorant morons.

This news is great.

Outside of the porn, there is just so much in the net I couldn't live without. First of all, there is more baseball information than I could ever hope to cover and more importantly, it's a way to really stay informed about political issues. Watching TV and reading the newspaper you get the version of the story that "they" want you to see. You can get much more of the story and the issues in general on the net.

now that's funny!

The internet is a lot more than just porn.

I use it all the time to read about the stock market, or quick news updates at work, or questions that i might have.

I also use it all the time at work to source products. Google is your friend.

My dad however, has never even turned on a computer in his life and never will.

One of my best friends is a highschool english teacher and is terrified of computers and never uses them unless she has absolutely no choice, and then she comes to my house and asks me how to save a file.

What exactly are they afraid about?

Well I used it the first time in 97. I was clueless the first few times but as I grew to use it more often it was so easy to use. Just push the button and click on the IE button..

I see a lot of comments about ignorance and fear.

I know quite a few people who make a delberate decision not to use the Internet. Not because they're afraid or ignorant. They claim to be "bored" with it and find other esoteric ways to entertain themselves.

For the most part, I think these avant garde idiots are just too stupid to operate the necessary equipment to access the Internet, but a few of them I think really believe what they're saying.

Is 42% of America very, very old?

My grandma doesn't use the internet. My mom doesn't. They are older people.

Everyone else does. Even Bob Villa and the Aemish use the Internet.

why should they go online? SSDD

The sad thing is that there are a LOT of people who would get stressed out over trying to do that.

That is a lot. I should take a look around me.

I dont see how the 42% is true. I think the number is actually a bit smaller. I dont know how many people of all ages I have helped get online. It never took me long to explain the basics to get them going on their own. I have noticed that the older generation usually does not use what we would considered normal terms for some things. One gentleman even calls email addresses online number. but other than odd names for things I ahve yet to encounter someone who couldnt pick it up in a few hours of basic instruction on how to use a computer and how to navigate the web.

look at the sample they used...