We Don't Need No Stinkin' Broadband

Ant writes "eMarketer has an article on The Yankee Group's analysis on why some Americans aren't feeling the broadband love. It was based on Ipsos Public Affairs. 45% of Americans say it's simply too expensive. 30% say that they just don't want it. 14% say they feel dial-up is adequate for their needs. Less than 10% are not able to get broadband access in their area. Five percent insist broadband is "too complicated". Another 5% aren't even sure why they don't have it..."

Comments

45% say its too expensive?

[Bananatree3]

I mean, if all you do is dial up for 5 minutes each day to download your email, I guess a 5 buck a month service suffices. But I imagine that in 15 years, such a meager usage would be almost unimaginable.

Re:45% say its too expensive?

[nwbvt]

Why would it be "almost unimaginable" that there will be people who won't make much use of the Internet 15 years from now? Believe it or not, there is a world outside of /., where people don't use the Internet for much more than occasionally checking their email, and that world will likely continue to exist. Today there are plenty of people who watch very little TV or who don't own CD players, and they are not all crazy wacko Luddites who live in cabins in Montana.

Re:45% say its too expensive?

[Dobeln]

One important factor here: Free local calls in the US. That hasn't been around here in Europe, and so, moving to broadband is a fiscal necessity unless you want to go bankrupt. (You should have seen some of my phone bills, before I got BB - yowza!) ;P

The biggest danger of broadband

[binkzz]

is that once you try it, you can not go back to dialup.

If you haven't had broadband yet and only dialup, upgrading doesn't seem necessary. But once you've experienced the speed of broadband and the convenience of not having to dial up and log in, you'll never want to go back.

Too expensive?

[NerveGas]

    It's all a matter of priorities. I'll bet that of those people not willing to pay $25 or $30 for entry-level broadband, a good portion of them spend $50, $60, or more on cable or satellite TV.

steve

Re:Validity

[PodissRT]

Homer Simpson: "Oh, people can come up with statistics to prove anything, Kent. 14% of people know that."

56Kb/s isn't that bad if ads are blocked

[Animats]

With ad blocking, dialup can be faster than low-end broadband with ads. Well over half of bandwidth is consumed by ads.

Sites that work just fine at 56K:

• Google
• eBay
• Slashdot
• Fandango (movie tickets)
• FedEx
• Digi-Key
• Craigslist
• Yahoo

The primary use of broadband is to deliver ads. At the consumer's expense. No wonder 30% of users don't want it.

Re:I agree. It's expensive no killer app like HD

[mankey wanker]

Yup. It should be cheap as hell and everywhere.

The U.S. is determined to make itself obsolete - and sooner rather than later! That's why the looting is so fast and furious these days. Eventually we'll end up just one more population of rioting people demanding economic parity like other third world labor countries are doing right now. Just watch how the U.S. becomes irrelevant during the next century thanks to our inability to innovate thanks to laws that favor the few against the many.

It's all about the price of labor, and driving that price down, down, down...

A lot of technology gets talked about on Slashdot is ultimately pinned to what some shmoe worker at Kwik-E-Mart can afford, and if s/he cannot afford it don't expect that technology to become ubiquitous.

Re:Because it will be too deeply entrenched

[nwbvt]

"More and more companies will reach the point where it's almost impossible to get your business done without using the internet. How long will companies accept resumes on paper?"

Yes, many jobs will require Internet access. Many jobs today require Internet access. But are you seriously going to tell me that day laborers or fast food restaurant workers are going to need access to the Internet in order to do their jobs?

"How long will banking without the internet be reasonable?"

Probably for a very long time. Unless banks can find a way to print money over the Internet, ATMs and physical banks will need to continue to exist.

"When will doing your taxes without it become impractical?"

Its not that hard to fill out a W-2 form. And even with tax programs, you are still going to need to enter the same information. If your taxes are a bit more complex, those programs are very useful, but not everyone is going to need that.

"any more than I can really comprehend people who don't use ATMs."

Well that just means you are not very good at comprehending other people's lifestyles.