NEW YORK, August 19 - Roughly 60m American adults do not use the internet on any device, whether it be computers or phones, according to a New York Times article published today. That equates to around 20% of the country.
As our nation embraces the digital revolution, those unfamiliar with the internet are getting left behind. One such individual is 70 year old retired truck driver from Bessemer, Elmer Griffin.
“The job I’m trying to get now requires me to know how to operate a computer,"Griffin explained. He was previously rejected from an auto-parts store because he was unable to use the computer to check the inventory.
“I wish I knew how, I really do," Griffin lamented. "People don’t even want to talk to you if you don’t know how to use the Internet.”
According to NYT, the 20 percent figure has remained stagnant since President Obama took office in 2009 and initiated a $7B investment in expanding the digital space for the US, building both wired and wireless systems in the nation's net dry places.
Analyst are fearful that these 60M frankly, luddites, will be unable to acquire jobs, government services, health care and education. Such inability to access the most prevalent technology in the world will further extend the social and economic gaps that plague our country.
“As more tasks move online, it hollows out the offline options,” said John B. Horrigan, a senior research fellow at the Joint Center for Political and Economic Studies. “A lot of employers don’t accept offline job applications. It means if you don’t have the Internet, you could be really isolated.”
Internet usage correlates with education, age, income and according to a "Exploring the Digital Nation" report from the Commerce Department, race. A 2011 statistic states that 76 percent of white Americans use the internet, compared to 57 percent of African-American households. Other telling statistics include high internet usage from the college educated and those with an annual income over of $50,000 and up. More than half of Americans 65 and older do not use the internet, while more than three-fourths of Americans younger than 65 do. And Southern states are comparably less likely to use the internet.
“We recognize more work needs to be done to ensure that no Americans are left behind,” said John B. Morris Jr., director of Internet policy at the National Telecommunications and Information Administration, part of the Commerce Department. “Increasing the level of broadband adoption is a complex, multifaceted challenge with no simple, one-size-fits-all solution.”
Nations ranked higher in internet adoption than the US include Britain, Canada, South Korea, Germany, France and Australia, as well as nearly every other smaller country in Western Europe.
Seniors tend to feel that the internet is irrevelant and believe that they are not inhibited by their failure to adopt. However, excluding seniors most Americans feel that they can't get access to all the things that they need, according to a senior researcher at Internet at American life research firm, Pew Project.
Some suspect that the recent recession stifled internet growth, pointing at the Great Depression as the morbid time stalled the adoption of home telephone services.
Programs that are demonstrating successful results include the federally funded Smart Communities. The $7M effort in Chicago provides Internet training in English and Spanish for individuals and small businesses. Between the 2008 and 2011, the organization registered a 15 percent increase in Internet use compared to other Chicago community areas.
The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) along with some Internet providers offer more affordable services for low-income households. Comcast’s two-year-old Internet Essentials program, which offers broadband service for $10 a month to low-income families, has signed up 220,000 households out of 2.6 million eligible homes in Comcast service areas.
Thomas C. Power, the administration's deputy chief technology officer for telecommunications believes that the US is far from accomplishing what they need to.
"I’ve seen enough to know that we’re making good progress," Power stated. “But I also know we need to make more progress.”
SOURCE: NY Times
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