Approximately 20% of adults in the U.S. don't use the Internet.
That is according to a study from the Pew Research Center's Internet &
American Life Project.
Most
of those have never used the Internet, don't think it is relevant, and don't
have anyone else in the household going online either.
If
that figure is right, it is a problematic broadband gap for the
administration's push for broadband-centric government services, businesses, education,
health and energy monitoring, entertainment and just about everything else
currently done with bricks and mortar.
The
gap continues to divide by education, income, ethnicity and age. According to
the study, "senior citizens, those who prefer to take the interviews in
Spanish rather than English, adults with less than a high school education, and
those living in households earning less than $30,000 per year" are the
least likely to be Internet users, as are those with disabilities.
The
administration's emphasis on wireless broadband is buttressed by the study,
which says that technology is helping bridge the gap somewhat for those on
"the other side of the digital divide." Minorities, younger adults,
those with lower incomes or no college are more likely than others to say that
smart phones are their main source of Internet access.
The
data for the study comes from a phone survey July 25-Aug. 26, 2011, of 2,260 adults 18-plus.
