Good enough for my daddy? Good enough for me!
A survey released by Park Associates shows that less than one-third of U.S. households still have no Internet access. Furthermore, the households do not plan on getting Internet access because of the irrelevance of online in their lives or their homes.
Park, a Dallas-based technology research firm, also stated that the 29 percent without the ‘Net translates into roughly 31 million with no intent on getting service in the next 12 months. The National Technology Scan conducted by Park also found that concern over cost was not a major reason behind the Internet-free homes.
44 percent of the households have no interest in the internet while 22 percent cannot afford a computer or afford internet service. 17 percent of the participants answered “I’m not sure how to use the Internet” while 14 percent of respondents revealed, “I do all my e-commerce shopping and YouTube-watching at work.”
Are these the same people who think that the Earth appeared 6,000 years ago? And how many of those who say they can’t afford a computer spend more than $50 a month on cigarettes and beer?
Wow, I didn’t know 31 million people lived in the states of Arkansas, Mississippi, West Virginia and Louisiana
I guess you learn something new every day..
You left out Kentucky, Tennessee and Alabama.
My girlfriend’s parents do not have the internet. They really have no need to have access at all times. When they want to check their e-mail or anything else, they just drive down to the library and use it there.
I get a kick out of people who make judgements based on an assumption about class. This study shows that the “need” for Internet access is not as great as the need for other things.
It’s about marketing, not about the technology itself. Don’t get so defensive.
way to insult southerners and christians in the same post, I suppose everybody who doesn’ have internet is an igonorant, christian, smoking, drinking southerner
You are a jerk
It’s a good thing. All these people coming online would clog the inter-tubes. Right?
I grew up in rural Kansas so I can and will make fun of these people. 8P
I say good for them. Some people have actual lives. They work, they go home, they play with their kids, their pets, maybe take a walk. I dont feel so bad now for not owning a cell phone. Not everybody wants to be tied to a computer and/or television.
So, uh, mark – you’re using your company’s computer?
For some reason I am reminded of the Dance Monkey, Dance story.
9. Actually, god, I am in the computer business. I own approximately 6 computers. I’ve been a tech for 24 years. Go figure. As much as I do love computers, I also admire people who feel no need to use them, the same with the boob tube.
Some dont understnad the Availability of Access.
Internet access is about as bad as Cellphone connections.
For those in Rual and farmiong areas…Even if they have phone service They WONT have an ISP local enough to use.
Many families have even gone to ONLY cellphones and no land lines, and at that cost, it makes an ISP connection abit unaffordable.
Even IF’ they went for Satilitte service, and the 7 second delay, the service ISNT cheap.
About 1/2 the problem comes with Price.
Another part comes from Access.
Then comes NEED… do you really NEED access in a business? NOT always.
Then comes religious and internal beliefs of what is needed.
#4 & 5. agreed. Just because I like the internet does not mean I am free to condemn those who have other priorities.
Even the people in rural areas of Canada have internet.
#0 – Eideard
“Are these the same people who think that the Earth appeared 6,000 years ago? And how many of those who say they can’t afford a computer spend more than $50 a month on cigarettes and beer?”
C’mon, E-dawg. Does anyone actually want these people on the internets? To realize what that would entail, just consider what happens when computer companies succeed in persuading those resistant and / or reluctant souls to break down and buy a pc – they then suck up such a disproportionate amount of tech support resources that the transaction flips from a profit of $X to a net loss of $3 or 4X…
They gots TVs. They’s happy. Leave ’em be.
As someone who works in IT in one of the reddest areas of the south (E. TN), I can say with confidence that many xtians here ARE stupid and they drink and smoke heavily.
You know for a bunch of liberals some of you guys are the biggest bigots this Arkansas citizen has ever had any contact with.
Lots of ugly souls posting here. You’re the kind of folks who get lined up against the wall and shot when the revolutions come. Workers from the Sirius Cybernetics Corporation apparently. Anyway, nothing wrong with those of us who prefer not to allow themselves to be assimilated.
What a wanker to think you can justify the need for internet as being any more ‘correct’ as some people’s need for cigarettes and beer. You weren’t popular at high school (let’s face it), and you find acceptance with your peers on the internet. Others enjoy smoking and drinking with their peers in the flesh. You are a pretentious asshole, and if I was a southern US resident (I am actually in the southern hemisphere…) I wouldn’t want to join you on the internet any more than I previously did after reading that article and realising how much of a dick you really are.
How could I have forgotten Arkansas? D’oh!
Any halfway intelligent person knows that the access to information and people that the tubes make possible is one giant fuck of a lot more important than entertainment – i.e., cigs, beer, TV.
If entertainment is more important to you than knowledge, learning and global human communication, then more power to ya, But you’re still an asshole.
If the population of the U.S. is over 300,000,000, 1/3 would be … umm … uhh … So, the 31 million they are referring to is households?
What percentage of Americans read books?
#16, JulieB, ruefully, it’s not that the ‘xtians’ are stupid it is just that they follow an infantile religion which makes them stupid.
Another example of the elitist and very un-liberal bigotry of some of the people who post here. Who set you up as the arbitours of knowledge (Lauren, Improbus, gquaglia, and julieb) and the Gods of what people can or can’t do with their lives, money, and time?
While I think even is a bit harsh, he’s right on…..so is Mark and James Hill.
I live in 2 states, travel extensively, went to University in England and I can tell you, stupid people are everywhere, and they are Christian, Muslim, Buddahist, Hindu and Jew…also….atheist and agnostic.
I own a computer and go online, I think it’s a fantastic invention. But, I also can see why some people just don’t want or need it in their lives.
I can almost believe what even says about some of your lives in high school and in interpersonal relationships. Some of you are just plain nasty bastards. You come in here and in certain posts you take great pleasure in belittling others, simply because you think it’s cool or witty or whatever.
I don’t watch t.v., and I don’t own nor would i ever own a cellphone or most of the other electronic gear that you all live or die by. It’s not something I need or want in my life.
I have many friends who are young (my age), intelligent, witty, well traveled and don’t own a putor. They don’t want or need one. They read newspapers, magazines, go to cinema and meet their mates/friends in a pub for a few beers or whatever and engage in real live life. And, most are not religious, nutjob or otherwise.
I’m in California at the moment…..guess what julieb, and improbus….there are a hell of a lot of stupid, non-christian people here, none of whom came from the south or Kansas.
I’m a bit disappointed in Eideard the most I guess. I know from observation he is a very intelligent, learned man, liberal and open-minded…..but his assumption that the 31 million without internet are all Christian wing nuts or ignorant, came as a surprise to me. It’s something I expect to see with an Uncle Dave post or even a post from Smartalix on something he’s passionate about…..but not from Eideard.
I don’t watch t.v., and I don’t own nor would i ever own a cellphone or most of the other electronic gear that you all live or die by. It’s not something I need or want in my life.
Good for you, Joshua. I bet you don’t swear, fart or eat meat either. Have fun living in the stone age while the rest of us live in the now. I feel sorry for any children you might have as they will be brought up with an unrealistic outlook of the world.
Eideard and others: My in-laws are in their eighties, and have plenty of money. What they don’t have is any interest in the Internet or computers in general. My mother-in-law writes letters to her friends on stationery or cards, because most of them have no computers either. they watch cable TV, but come from the era where there weren’t many computers around.
Well, I’m glad I got so many responses. Obviously, I realize that not all southern xtians are stupid. It was a generalization. I thought you seasoned internet users could handle it.
I doubt it accounts for more than a couple of percent of people who may not have a home ISP, but EVDO card use is another factor. We’re planning to move, so I let Earthlink go. I’ll sign up for a home ISP again once the house is ready and we move into it, but the EVDO card, Tmobile hotspots and free Wi-Fi have worked out fine in the interim.
BTW, does anyone know of an EVDO card that will work in a MacBook Pro? The one I have now requires a PCMCIA slot so I’m stuck with keeping my PowerBook G4 as long as I use it.
Joshua, you are an example of the stereotype unfortunately. You rarely know what you are talking about.
#26…..gquaglia…..I do fart, swear and eat meat. I also watch movies, walk, and swim….all while chewing bubble gum.
I live in this age, but I’m not a slave to it, nor am I backwards, or ignorant.
If you feel you have to have whatever the corporate shills are selling this week….thats your right……and I’m not knocking you for it. I disagree, but thats my right. I’m not calling you ignorant, or stupid, or backwards or anything of that sort, just because you choose to be a consumer of many products that I find not worth my time to have or use.
If and when I’m lucky enough to have kids they will be raised to understand that they are not required to follow the herd to be a useful member of humanity. They will be raised around nature, with all of it’s good and bad, so that they can understand that we as humans are just part of something much bigger than us or our ego’s. That an open mind can think and dream and do far more than a closed one. I will happily point out that such an example of a closed mind is called…..gquaglia.
julieb……seasoned or not…it’s no different than my saying all people named julieb are stupid non-believers who clutter up all the tubes on the net daily. You can take that I’m sure……as it’s just a generalization.