Am I the only one?

[greg334]

Am I the only one who thinks when your local news group says to "learn more click on our website" don't realize that a lot of people do not have access to the internet or understand that if someone is watching their broadcast, the chances are can't afford a computer to begin with?

 

[Dreamer]

I understand your point about the internet, but I beleive most people have internet now. Even the old folks I know have Webtv or something.

BUT... why wouldn't someone who watches their broadcast be able to afford it? Just curious if you think only the poor people watch local news? LOL.

I watch my local news all the time, as would anyone who wants to stay informed on what's happening in THEIR neighborhood.

CNN, FOX, MSNBC are fine for world news... but they don't care what happens in Smalltown, OH.




Dreamer
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"Ability can take you to the top, but it takes Character to keep you there."

- Zig Ziglar

 

[greg334]

Dreamer, when you get a chance and can find the latest stats on how many house holds have internet access, there is less than one would think.

Maybe I wasn't clear on this, and a lot of times I am not.

I get a call from the guy down the street asking me if I can find some info on one of the news station's website. Apparently one of the news stations did a report on information about Medicare and some ways around a problem for some seniors. I saw it later on and they did 4:30 of the report and not telling any phone numbers or websites, they just say clink on our website to find the rest of the information. I had a hard time finding the info for him, I counted 12 ads on their site and the entire article that summerized the report was so buried. I think that this one would be in the top 10 of my websites that suck category.

Well my point is he like a lot of others I know of his age have no need for the internet or even cable and with some it is between food and the basics or the internet - SS does not pay for much.

So I thought about this, why should someone have to go to all that trouble to get a phone number when the station can just put it on the air like they used to.

 

[pelicn]

I agree on this one! We were visiting my mother and I mentioned that I wanted to see the local news. She said why, the local news is more commercials and "see our website" than anything. She doesn't have a computer, she's hardnosed and says, I've gotten along for 64 years without one just fine. LOL

 

[arkjarhead]

You know what's funny? I have the internet, but don't have cable or satelite. We run the bunny ears at our house. Plus we leave so far out in the bonnies you can't get cable. We thought about getting satelite, but the more we thought about we decided everything we like to watch comes on the free channels.

 

[Dreamer]

Greg,
I get what ya mean now.. I was thinkin you meant only them thar po folks watched the local news.. you meant the older folks!




Dreamer
Forums Administrator
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"Ability can take you to the top, but it takes Character to keep you there."

- Zig Ziglar

 

[Turtle]

Latest stats are always a little dated and behind the real world, but as of the end of June 2007, looks 84% of US households have Internet access, with 75% of all US households having broadband access.


Those without access at all are not as likely to get it, 'cause they don't want it. Most on dialup are the less-than $30,000 per year households, or the live in rural areas where cable and DSL is not available. (We have a satellite at the house out in our neck of the boonies).

The majority of those without Internet access in the home have it at work, school, the library, Internet Cafes, etc. The glaring exception is the elderly, who, if they don't have it in the home, don't have it at all.


Slow and steady, even in expediting, wins the race - Aesop

 

[greg334]

"Latest stats are always a little dated and behind the real world, but as of the end of June 2007, looks 84% of US households have Internet access, with 75% of all US households having broadband access."

I think that this is skewed, if 84% of all households are hooked up in someway, we would not see NetZero commercials and there would not be a big push to have more public access points. I think Gartner (I think it was Gartner, I am too lazy to check) had more accurate numbers and the last time it worked out somewhere around 52% had some sort of internet access, which is more realistic across demographics.

 

[cheri1122]

I don't know how many households have internet access, but I do know a few older folks who don't, and can't be persuaded to try it, either. (My mother says she's too old to learn anything new, and one of my aunts is a Luddite, I think - she won't even get an answering machine on her phone - can you imagine?!)
Call me cynical, but I have to wonder if the tv stations say "see our website" just to get more hits on their ad content...and the ad content on tv got so high, that I quit watching years ago.

 

[Turtle]

I'm sure the numbers are skewed. They all depend on who you ask. There are a lot of people who don't even have a land line anymore. Are they included in these numbers? I dunno.

The Gartner Dataquest Survey that they put out in June 2001 showed 61% of US households (65 million) were actively using the Internet with an Internet subscription of some kind. That 65 million was up 8.4 million from the previous year. Back then, in 2001, nearly 25% of those 65 million households had broadband access.

There are other surveys, like the Parks Associates' National Technology Scan that may be even more accurate than the Nielsen//Netratings because Parks does the survey every quarter, but for worldwide penetration the figures from Nielsen//Netratings are probably the most often referred to out of the bunch.

The latest Parks survey from last year indicates 71% of all US households have active Internet access, 82% of all households have at least one computer in the household, and 61% of those with Internet access at home have broadband.

I'm gonna go out on a limb and state that somewhere between 50% and 100% of US household have Internet access.

All I know for sure is that things have really changed a lot since my first modem.

Slow and steady, even in expediting, wins the race - Aesop

 

[pelicn]

We have satellite internet out in our neck of the woods too. DSL/cable are not available. My inlaws are staying at our house until theirs is built and they have a background screening company that requires a fast internet connection.
My step mom is still on dial up out where they live, and that drives me absolutely insane!

 

[greg334]

Well I stand corrected,

you have access to Gartner?

 

[Turtle]

"you have access to Gartner?"

Used to, but not any more. Not really. I used to manage a computer store, at the retail level, a satellite store of our main company, near the campus of Murray State University (go Racers!) that mainly dealt with pointing students in the right direction so they could order the right computer for them via the various student programs. (yawn) But, I mainly dealt with lager corporate clients (like Briggs and Stratton, Firestone Air Springs, Mattel, Goodyear) for hardware, software and consulting. It was mostly all local, but I was dealing with corporate for all of it. The information from Gartner Research was an important part of what I did, both to me and the clients.

I still know someone who has access to Gartner, and I check it out every now and then. Don't use it, but it's fascinating stuff, nonetheless.

I got a kick out of driving right past their headquarters in Stamford, CT last week. "Hey! I know those guys!"


Slow and steady, even in expediting, wins the race - Aesop

 

[Moot]

Today I bought a bottle of Slime Tire Sealant for my daughter's car. The directions on the label list four steps. Step #2. Attach the provided filler tube to both the bottle and valve stem. Squeeze in the recommended amount of sealant(see www.slime.com for complete application table) WTF!