Some households using cell phones only, others have never connected to the Internet
Posted by: in General NewsThere seems to be an interesting technological split going on in America, to judge by two new reports on tech adoption rates.
On the one hand, there’s a federal survey that finds that 16 percent of households only use cell phones and have no landline at home, and another 13 percent mostly use cell phones at home but do still keep a landline.
On the other hand, Dallas-based Parks Associates reports that 20 million U.S. households — or about 18 percent — have no Internet access at home.
Of course, it’s possible that some of those cell phone-only households have also opted to go without the Internet, and the federal report does say that low-income people are more likely to go without a landline. But I would guess that most of the cell-only people are finding some way to go online.
Parks does note that the percentage of households without Internet access has dropped from 29 percent at the end of 2006, so the Internet curmudgeons are slowly venturing online, while the federal report says the percentage of cell-only users is climbing.
So maybe this digital divide will go away in a few years, but it’s worth keeping in mind that a large swath of America still has never sent an e-mail.
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