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US Says Internet Use Rises as More Low Income People Go Online; Tablets Surpass Desktops In Popularity (reuters.com)
Internet use by Americans increased in 2017, fueled by a rise among people with lower incomes, a government report viewed on Wednesday by Reuters found. From a report: The National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) also reported that for the first time tablets were more popular than desktop computers, and that more households had a mobile data plan than wired broadband service. The results were to be publicly released later on Wednesday. The survey results demonstrate the growing importance of the internet in everyday communication as the way consumers access content changes. Among Americans living in households with family incomes below $25,000 per year, the survey found internet use increased to 62 percent in 2017 from 57 percent in 2015, while households earning $100,000 or more showed no change at 86 percent. The gain of 13.5 million users was "driven by increased adoption among low-income families, seniors, African Americans, Hispanics, and other groups that have been less likely to go online," the agency said.
Especially if you want to get work done.
Speed. Piece by piece hardware upgrades. Useful apps. Speed.
The millennial that doesn't like most of the stuff designed for millennials.
If more people (whatever their income) goes online then internet usage will rise. No Duh.
Tables are cheap computers, which can be given as gifts to low income people. Or purchased in installments with Cell phone plans, which may be easier for lower income people to get a hold of.
If something is so important that you feel the need to post it on the internet... It probably isn't that important.
I suspect they include 2-in-1 devices like the Microsoft Surface Book as "tablets" Otherwise this statements makes no sense whatsoever.
"A person is smart. People are dumb, panicky dangerous animals and you know it." - K
You're in the wrong demographic. The Amazon Fire 7 is available for under $50 (as low as $29.99 last Thanksgiving) and the Fire HD 8 is discounted to $69.99 several times a year. They don't require data plans or monthly subscriptions, which makes them ideal for people on an extremely limited budget -- just head down to McDonald's or the local library for free wi-fi.
Tablets are more popular than *desktops*, not notebooks.
It's all some folks can get a hold of. When you are a kid, you just take whatever your parents give you. If that's a tablet or a Timex Sinclair 1000, then that's what it is. If someone wants to use a computing device (or any object) to be productive, then they can find a way (load a better OS, get a keyboard, etc..). It's not the kind of device you own, it's how much drive you have to learn and make the thing sing. I've met many Russians who grew up computing on the worst kind of Apple-II or PC clone, but learned a ton about computing and went on to do it "for real".
"...more households had a mobile data plan than wired broadband service" is an indictment against the absolute shit choices most people have vis-a-vis ISPs... if I believe that statement.
The report the article is referring to is here
Apparently tablets are pretty popular... who knew?
Watching a non-expert trying to use a laptop and then watching them using a tablet is a real eye opener. I expect tablets to bounce back from their niche in the next few years.
We suffer more in our imagination than in reality. - Seneca
I can read. I have a 10" tablet that came with a folio keyboard and runs Windows 10. I had several Android/iOS tablets and they couldn't do what I needed. If you count Windows 2-in-1's as tablets then yes...they are more popular than desktops/laptops.
"A person is smart. People are dumb, panicky dangerous animals and you know it." - K
Well done, PopeRatzo. You really called him out on that particular choice of words! How DARE he carelessly mix up PC and laptop! It's such a good thing we have you here to put people in their place over these transgressions!
-=This sig has nothing to do with my comment. Move along now=-
I am seeing more and more of the data entry coming from the field via tablets. They are replacing the paper that used to come back to the office. Now the forms are being filled out electronically in the field and pictures of things like bills of lading and load reports, etc are being inserted right in to the forms and being transmitted. /w cameras really have a place in the effort to cut down on paperwork. And smooth the business processes.
;)
The packets still get back to the offices but they are mostly archived and if used, it is only to sort out any issues with the data already in the databases.
Tablets
But a side effect of this will be, smaller office staffs , etc. And entry jobs such as data entry will become fewer.
I am working with businesses that provide all their drivers and equipment operators with tablets, which they use for everything from daily time cards to filling out job sheets and work flow processing.
Just my 2 cents
Tablets more popular than desktop computers for browsing. The vast majority of desktop computers are used in businesses (where web browsing is usually prohibited) and by gamers. Most home users switched to laptops long ago, and most gamers also own a laptop for their non-gaming computer use.
And tablets are very popular. They just have a really long usable lifespan, which caused sales per year to plummet once the market was saturated. Mine is going on 4 years old and I have no intention of replacing it, whereas I get the itch to replace my laptop after 2 years and usually replace it by 3 years. I'd still be using my 8 year old tablet if the battery hadn't died.
...Cell phones... yes. Almost everyone I know is glued to a cell phone... but tablets seriously? This article is from 2018 not 2010 right?
Uh, back in 2010 we didn't have cell phones the size of fucking tablets. Could be part of the confusion.
Bulky. Heavy. Hot. Power-hungry. Software not designed for touch.
Circumcision is child abuse.
Bulky. Heavy. Hot. Power-hungry. Software not designed for touch.
Well, now that we've heard from the 80-pound teenager who only uses a computer for social media and Netflix binging, perhaps we can get back to discussing the computing needs for those who actually work with them.
Bulky. My system is only 14.00" x 10.20" x 14.00". Not very big
Heavy. Its only 20lbs. 2 1/2 gallons of milk. If you struggling to move that, you have issues
Hot. Nope. Runs at a nice 40C most of the time. I can get it to 80C gaming most of the day, but still doesnt effect the room all that much.
Software. Best part. I have a mouse and keyboard. WAY better input than touch. Its a lot more precise and faster. If you paid any attention in your typing class, you should be able to pull 60WPM with no problem. And you don't have to remember some arcane swipe to show things that are hidden
The millennial that doesn't like most of the stuff designed for millennials.
And tablets are very popular. They just have a really long usable lifespan, which caused sales per year to plummet once the market was saturated. Mine is going on 4 years old and I have no intention of replacing it, whereas I get the itch to replace my laptop after 2 years and usually replace it by 3 years. I'd still be using my 8 year old tablet if the battery hadn't died.
Funny, I've heard the exact same argument in reverse. Like the tablet is where you have Netflix, YouTube, social media, casual gaming etc. where you care about CPU/GPU power, "snappiness" and battery life while the laptop is relegated to typing up letters, resumes, long emails, blog posts, homework, making up basic checklists and spreadsheets etc. basically quasi-office work. I mean for me it would be completely unthinkable but we're not the average couch potato. For a lot of people having a "real" computer is not that important.
Live today, because you never know what tomorrow brings
Perhaps any cell phone 5.5 inches or larger?
You can get cheap 5.5 or larger androids at walmart for under $100.
Its only 20lbs.
That's so light, only TWENTY TIMES the weight of a regular tablet.
Circumcision is child abuse.
so you're out of touch with how most people do computing, perhaps even while sitting at your gamer rig.... sounds like a first world problem
A laptop with a large external monitor (or any kind of docking station) is a desktop.
In fact, I would enlarge "desktop" to include any form of input-heavy computer use where you don't constantly have your own fingers occupying (if not obscuring) your field of view.
With 1000x the performance.
The millennial that doesn't like most of the stuff designed for millennials.
I"m largely like you....
However, with the iPad Pro...I maxed mine out, I find that I can do more and more with it.
The pencil has really opened up some capabilities I can use on the road. The processing power of the iPad pro seems to rival that of many laptops and I'd dare say some underpowered desktops.
I'm amazed at what I can do with apps like Affinity Photo...where I've done some very resource intensive things like multi RAW images (30+) (from canon 5D3) focus stacking that it handles it without even a whimper.
Again, can't do everything with it, I do MOST of my real work at a desktop/workstation set up....but I must say, the upper level tablets like the iPad Pro are starting to blur the lines and allow you to do some real work on them.
I agree on the forced mobile website thing...ugh.
Light travels faster than sound. This is why some people appear bright until you hear them speak.........
Do you mean that Reuters releases stories that are critical to Trump?
Where do you draw the line for the size of a tablet? The HTC Athena had a 5" screen back in 2007.
Circumcision is child abuse.
Especially if you want to get work done. Speed. Piece by piece hardware upgrades. Useful apps. Speed.
You mean with KDE, right? Otherwise I don't want weirdo, unsafe Windows crap on my consumer electronics. I'd take crappy ChromeOS over that, like most people.
When all you have is a hammer, every problem starts to look like a thumb.
Hey, my VAX might be a little bulky, heavy, hot, and yea, power hungry, but the keyboard is so smooth! Designed for touch, and lots of it!
Well a laprop is a pc a screen a keboed ans a betery (usualy hast at keas wifi in addition) in a convunient mobile form factor, unless ofc the laprop n question is made by apple and runnng mac os) Because forsome reason a lot of people define pc as a comuuter runnng ms windows, as opposet to a personal comuter (nor a min computer (see DEC VAX etc) or mainframes. Man Iâ(TM)m getting old alltho Ikve never used a Mini mysel, I destincly remember my father using a vax at for fiir som early GIS
So... you're able to build a PC and install software on it and do all of that, but you can't remember how to swipe your finger to show hidden things?
I carry a PC which is 2lbs, has a respectable 8th Gen Core i7, a GTX 1060 and by the time it's a little old, I can get a new one and pass this one down to one of my kids.
When I get to work, I plug it into a 27" Wacom Cintiq, and external keyboard and mouse. When I'm on an airplane, I can play video games with an XBox One controller on a VR display.
As for temperature... not really a problem. It is never to hot to have on my lap.
As for swipes and stuff, I can detach the screen and use it as a 1lb tablet for reading and watching films or playing angry birds.
The big machines... they basically sit around running mining software to avoid letting them collect dust.
Let me recommend something useful. Get a laptop... something simple and good enough. Then get a passport. Then get a plane ticket. Travel and see the world.
If you think that a desktop is a replacement for a decent laptop, you probably are at risk of a vitamin D deficiency and should spend some time at a cafe in Madrid or maybe on the steps of a pyramid in south america.
And for some of us, typing class was a class which only girls were allowed to take in school because they were being prepared for their very exciting career as a secretary as someone forgot to call the school and say "Dude... this is the '90s, girls are legally allowed to think now"
Please don't joke... I've actually been trying to buy a VAX this past month because I need something that runs DECTERM properly. The shipping on those things is a bit prohibitive though.
Thank you!!! I've been looking for this comment.
First... $100k a year is wealthy? That's two people averaging $50k a year income. That's not wealthy. That's barely middle class (not middle income which is American for barely out of poverty).
Second... 14% of the people in America living in $100k+ a year household manage to make $100K+ a year without using the Internet? How the hell in 2018 can you earn $50K+ a year without using the Internet? I'm trying hard as hell to list careers that pay $50K+ a year and don't require Internet access. I suppose some of the union workers at UPS in the sorting facilities might get that much. Would a household with two people who work on a Tesla assembly line make that much?
Maybe this is counting a very large number of retired people who have investments that make $100K in returns a year.
I'm totally grasping at straws now. Who the hell can possibly be in that paygrade in 2018 without using the Internet? Is it possible it's a sales person who things that when he's watching porn on his telephone or tablet that it's not really Internet?
The desktop is dead, in favour of smart terminals and notebooks. Tablets are for the empty consumption of content and obviously will be the computer for the majority, along with a smart TV (keep in mind the 100IQ is average and at 100 you are not a big computer users or a content creator, still the majority market). Tablets are utter shit for creating content, just the way it is.
Desktops are down to power users and M$ is busily pissing them off with forced software installs, using them as crash test dummies for patches for business users and of course data mine their hard disk drives.
Chaos - everything, everywhere, everywhen
I have a Compaq Portable that I use for plane trips.
You are welcome on my lawn.