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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.
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.
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.
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 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
Tables are cheap computers
I will give you the cheap, but they are not computers. They are electronic consumption devices.
Yes, they are, and perfectly designed for the internet consumption generation.
It's no surprise the end user experience has been reduced to a touch-screen device with a voice assistant on it; most consumers are as dumbed down as the devices they barely know how to operate.