21% of Americans Aren't Using the Internet

[Travis Beane]

I live many seniors, and most of them have no idea what email is.
The few that do know how to use computers is all facebook/emailing relatives anyways.

The internet is a valuable resource, if used properly.
I also believe it should be a public service (even just basic 50-100KB/s wifi around the city or free basic broadband).

I screen all my calls, hang up when they say survey, and don't have a landline. 😀

 

[nebun]

those people are the ones that are so old they can't see the letters on the keyboard, so what's the point?

 

[bin1127]

The 21% that are working and keeping the economy running.

 

[dragonsqrrl]

[citation][nom]nforce4max[/nom]I don't see how people being "Tea Party" members being part of this but more or less you are a troll trying to antagonize people against a third party option rather than voting for the "home hogs" that are the establishment parties which in their own right are the same. They offer nothing and expect every thing. They have more in common with any various forms of Marxism than a true and free "Republic". Republicans are like Democrats both are like Nazism and communism since both are the same but only different propaganda.[/citation]
lol... wut?

 

[one-shot]

How about "21% of American Surveryed Aren't Using The Internet". This title is misleading...and you know better (journalist)

 

[dragonsqrrl]

[citation][nom]amoghthegamer[/nom]dude, nobody gives a **** about Japan and I honestly dont care what the average is! Japan is around the size of TEXAS! We have a lot more ground to cover.... My city Omaha, NE, its the smack in the middle of the USA and I get 40MB Down, 5 Up.... it may not be fast but Iam only spending $55 on Internet, there are people that have 80MB Down for $99.95.[/citation]
Well I'm sorry you feel that way amoghthegamer, but fortunately for our country other people do give a ****. And although you may have access to an affordable high-bandwidth connection in your microcosm, the average bandwidth is a tell tale sign of the condition of this industry across the rest of the nation.

This is an extremely important issue, and could be one of the major deciding factors in the future productivity and competitiveness of the US in the 21st century. In the same way the federal interstate project was instrumental in vastly expanding mobility and helping to secure US prosperity for the ladder half of the 20th century, so could expanded and vastly improved internet access lay the foundations for the future of tech innovations in the US.

And so what if there's a much larger land area to cover then Japan? Land area alone hasn't stopped us in the past. It's going to take more manpower and subsequently more money to expand and improve, but again our "GDP is over twice that of Japan", and ultimately we'll be in a much better position to compete. American prosperity over the last half century wasn't a given, and it wasn't a mandate by God. It happened because people had the willpower, foresight, and intelligence to make it happen. But unfortunately willpower and foresight may also be the biggest hindrance, and the current situation is really just a reflection of the current priorities of the public.

So basically you're making the argument that you have access to great service in Omaha, and screw everything else and the rest of the country because it has no impact on you or your future. I have the distinct feeling you're not getting the bigger picture here. I don't know about you, but I'm not aware of very many technological innovations that have come out of Omaha Nebraska lately. But unfortunately based on your previous narrow-minded and shortsighted comment, I wouldn't expect you to give a ****.

...but just in case you do, have a read:
http/www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/03/15/AR2010031503785.html

 

[jsc]

shaun_shaun:
If you are going to cherry-pick quotes, how about Obama's "57 states"?

 

[Maxor127]

I envy that 21%. The internet is like a parasite.

 

[vasilecelmare]

This is kind of pointless. There shouldn't be really the need for this poll. Just look around you. How many people have an education so that they can know that the internet can help they're lives in any way? I'm talking about everything a person can do on the internet : promoting businesses, seeking answers, entertainment, socializing – IMPROVING THEIR LIVES.

How many people are born and raised in the entire world that have our believes? What we see on the internet is only content created by people like me and you!

The bottom line is that we will keep seeing this kind of stuff for the next 10-20 years until the old generations are gone. the numbers will only go down not disappear entirely. There will be always "less intelligent" people indoctrinated with the believes of their peers. Anyway don't you guys know that even stating opinions about this subject is a SIN? Yes sir! the internet is a tool of SATAN, I tell you!!!

Anyway I'm not saying that the average “couch people” and peasants do what they do wrong – they are happy with their lives, with what they know and do is just fine for them. They probably see us like damn pagans too. Why should we care?

 

[neiroatopelcc]

[citation][nom]Article[/nom]How many people do you know who aren't connected?[/citation]

I don't think I know of a single person who isn't connected.

 

[damasvara]

Which makes me wonder, the people here in Indonesia, especially Jakarta, are Internet Cafe's addict... Thanks to Zynga's Poker that is... Believe it or not, they made a living out of selling chips they earn from winning... Talk about being opportunists... lol

 

[george21546]

[citation][nom]Minus_i7[/nom]21% of Americans are also over age 55, according to the 2000 census.Hm...[/citation]
so what does that have to do with anything. Both my mother and mother-in-law used the internet into their 80's. The problem is no rural service that doesn't cost an arm and a leg.

 

[nforce4max]

[citation][nom]anaxamenes[/nom]I think it's a valid question. You have a lot of tea party members that seem very disinterested in how things work. I would wonder if having easier access to the internet and more information might help them be a bit more excited to gather factual information before forming their opinions.I'm sorry, I just feel that many of them don't understand how the government was designed to operate by the founding fathers and it is frustrating to them when it doesn't work the way they think it should.[/citation]

Sure, I wish that the average American would wake up and find out about the 50-70 million unborn that were killed in US abortion clinics. I wish that the average American would wake up and be their own leaders rather than voting carrier criminals (politicians) instead of being as corrupt as any third world nation. I wish that the average American would make wise choices rather than buy things that they can't afford such as Mc Mansions. I wish that the average American would stop the government from running up trillion dollar debts that can never be paid. I wish that the Average American would have prevented the trillion dollar secret bailouts of wall street and the banks. $23.7 trillion! The interest on the debts can never be paid in full and future generations will live on their knees in poverty.

 

[oboelcke]

[citation][nom]anaxamenes[/nom]I think it's a valid question. You have a lot of tea party members that seem very disinterested in how things work. I would wonder if having easier access to the internet and more information might help them be a bit more excited to gather factual information before forming their opinions.I'm sorry, I just feel that many of them don't understand how the government was designed to operate by the founding fathers and it is frustrating to them when it doesn't work the way they think it should.[/citation]
Elistist much? Or is it projection? Most TEA party members can recite the Constitution clause for clause, amendment for amendment. You do realize that many groups have Constitutional/BoR/American History study sessions. Many could also recite just about every Federalist paper along with much of the Founding Father's correspondence.
Polls by the NYT, Gallup and other pollsters statistically state that TEA party members have a higher than average education, tend to be middle/ middle upper class, and are more informed than the average voter on world affairs.
The also tend to ve fiscally conservative but socailly moderates who want the Constitution followed to the letter.

 

[blackened144]

[citation][nom]anaxamenes[/nom]I think it's a valid question. You have a lot of tea party members that seem very disinterested in how things work. I would wonder if having easier access to the internet and more information might help them be a bit more excited to gather factual information before forming their opinions.I'm sorry, I just feel that many of them don't understand how the government was designed to operate by the founding fathers and it is frustrating to them when it doesn't work the way they think it should.[/citation]

You obviously know absolutely nothing about the Tea Party.

 

[sneaky jedi]

anyone who is saying the sample size is not big enough has never taken a statistics course. Increasing the sample size any more than about 2500 results in very small, exponentially decreasing returns in certainty.

 

[mrecio]

[citation][nom]DokkRokken[/nom]Twenty-one percent of the population may actually be smarter than we think.[/citation]

I like this answer, now back to my internetz 🙁

 

[Xenophage]

I'm a huge technophile, and I'm one of the 26% that says government has NO BUSINESS doing a god damn thing with the internet. It is not government's prerogative to provide access to the internet to anybody.

 

[beckstrom12]

Ha ha I think it depends on where they did their sample.... I mean if you do some small town or something of course some people are not going to have internet, but for a true conclusion you need a lot bigger sample then that.

 

[itpro]

Services provided by the government are not free!

I am sorry for stating the obvious, but after reading the comments from the Progressives among us I just had to get that off my chest. Whether it is health care, or internet, or roads, or whatever, the government has to pay for whatever services they provide just like everyone else. Where does the government get the money to provide these services? TAXES! The difference between government provided services and private company provided services is that with the private sector the user of the service pays for it, and with government provided services everyone pays for it whether they use it or not. Well, not everyone, as in the US now half the people no longer pay any taxes at all, so the pool of us productive members of society who still pay taxes is shrinking, and we are getting fed up with providing a free ride to all those shirkers who keep thinking up more and more things that we should buy for them. And you pinheads talk about how ignorant the Tea Party members are! At least Tea Party people understand that there is no such thing as a free ride!