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The number of people in the United States who use the Internet increased steadily from 2000 until 2012, when the percentage of offline adults fell to 15 percent. Since then, despite efforts by the government and social service organizations to encourage Americans to get online, that number hasn't budged, according to Pew.
Why are some Americans so reluctant to sign on? A third of those surveyed who aren't online (34 percent) said they don't think the Internet is relevant to their lives, or that they're simply not interested in what the Web has to offer. Another 32 percent of people who don't use the Internet said the technology required to access the Internet is just too tough to get the hang of, and 8 percent said they were "too old to learn."
But some people said they don't use the Internet because they cannot afford to do so, according to Pew. The survey data showed that 19 percent of those not online cited the expense of Internet service or owning a computer as their reason for staying offline.
Facebook and Google have been in the news recently because they want to get everyone online. What if those people don't want to?
(Score: 1) by pTamok on Tuesday August 04 2015, @11:57AM
One issue is the provision of mandated public services to what is now a minority of people. Should national/local government have an obligation to make their services accessible (or indeed usable) to people who are not online? It is a similar problem to provision of mandatory servies to minority language speakers and disabled people: it doesn't make good economic sense. In some places it is now difficult, if not impossible, to file your taxes on paper rather than online. Should one be required to apply for state benefits online; or should there always be an efficient offline alternative available?
Furthermore, if one is required to interact with local or national government online, would it be reasonable to have to do so via, for example, Facebook; or require a Google account?
I'm no Luddite; but I am not an enthusiastic early adopter either: I like to think through things and look for unanticipated disbenefits. We know how to shuffle paper around to get things done: we are less good at shuffling bits, especially in the long term. Ink on paper is a pretty good long-term storage mechanism, and the format tends not to change much. Microfiche is a pretty good backup mechanism.
In my view, if an obligation is to be imposed that you access services on-line; then there should be a universal service obligation (in much the same way as there used to be an obligation for postal organisations to deliver to all addresses) so that even people in highly rural areas have access to a usable online service at the same flat rate as someone in a city (like postage rates).
(Score: 2) by VLM on Tuesday August 04 2015, @12:29PM
Should ... local government have an obligation to make their services accessible (or indeed usable) to people who are not online?
Welcome to the public library computer lab. Admittedly you'd have to be pretty dumb to not assume there's keyloggers all over them, and who knows what bodily fluids on the keyboards, but with some care, maybe usable?