Internet-Less Americans

Jiro

Jiro

If You Know What I Mean
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Wired Less: Disconnected in Urban America

For many Americans living in urban areas, high-speed Internet access remains elusive.

Much of the discussion about broadband expansion in the United States focuses on the rural areas that still lack this essential infrastructure. As we documented in our earlier report, Five Days on the Digital Dirt Road, residents in rural areas are struggling to live and work without high-speed Internet.

But this snapshot only shows a part of the picture of the digital divide in America. Even in some of our most tech-savvy wired cities, millions of people – particularly low-income households, immigrant populations and senior citizens – do not have high-speed Internet in their homes or businesses.
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this site is rather fascinating. Seems like Latino population in CA and those in DC are largely Internet-less.
 
That makes a statement about today's society...if it is a struggle to live and work without high speed Internet, then it means we all have come to depend on it to live our daily lives. Is that a good or bad thing? How did we get to this point? Lol
 
It's a good thing. I could run my whole life with never leaving home. I can command anything brought to my home by internet.
 
Bottesini said:
It's a good thing. I could run my whole life with never leaving home. I can command anything brought to my home by internet.
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Yep I can't remember the last time I PAID a bill-- like w/a check~ except my storage unit who doesn't even take debit cards... ugh! I do so much online- it's quite sad actually that I'm so dependent on it! (off to re-evaluate my life.... :roll::roll: LOL)
 
shel90 said:
That makes a statement about today's society...if it is a struggle to live and work without high speed Internet, then it means we all have come to depend on it to live our daily lives. Is that a good or bad thing? How did we get to this point? Lol
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here's a thing - the question is not if we're dependent on Internet. It's how we use internet. Some uses it as a "substitution" and/or add-on for their social life. some uses it as a "convenient tool" to pay/order/read online with ease. some uses it as a living such as selling/writing/etc to make some money. et cetera et cetera....

I consider it BAD if your life is largely dependent on Internet because if Internet was gone/disrupted, your life becomes "diminished." I have had a serious Internet addiction in the past but I finally got over it and I treat Internet as a valuable tool. nothing more. It does sadden me to see the youths being so hooked on their Sidekick/BB/iPhone, Myspace, Facebook, and Twitter.... it's pathetic.
 
Well, while lack of personal contact can certainly be a negative, I also think that the use of technology to stay in touch over distances is a good thing. Teens have always had a tendency to hang in groups. With so many of them having less social time to gather together (jobs, extracurricular activities, families moving around, etc) it is only natural that they would use technology to continue to gather together. Its really nothing new. In the 1950's parents complained about their teens being on the telephone for hours. Now they complain about them texting for hours.
 
jillio said:
Well, while lack of personal contact can certainly be a negative, I also think that the use of technology to stay in touch over distances is a good thing.
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that's still considered as "convenient tool" which replaces snail mail and costly long-distance telephone. I meant that some people substituted real life with Internet.

jillio said:
Teens have always had a tendency to hang in groups. With so many of them having less social time to gather together (jobs, extracurricular activities, families moving around, etc) it is only natural that they would use technology to continue to gather together. Its really nothing new.
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that would be considered as a "convenient tool" as well. At least they were not using Internet as a substitution to having real social contacts. emails, txt, meetup.com, evite.com, etc. are a great tool to meet people and/or to organize the events with friends/family.

jillio said:
In the 1950's parents complained about their teens being on the telephone for hours. Now they complain about them texting for hours.
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:hmm: good point! but then... there's a difference between teens using it as tool and addiction. If you take it away and they pouted... that's ok. but if they go ape-shit crazy and acted as if their life is ruined and feeling prehistoric.... wow..... :roll:
 
jillio said:
Well, while lack of personal contact can certainly be a negative, I also think that the use of technology to stay in touch over distances is a good thing. Teens have always had a tendency to hang in groups. With so many of them having less social time to gather together (jobs, extracurricular activities, families moving around, etc) it is only natural that they would use technology to continue to gather together. Its really nothing new. In the 1950's parents complained about their teens being on the telephone for hours. Now they complain about them texting for hours.
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:gpost:

I used to say that I never understood how teenagers could spend so much time on the computer. It wasn't until I started using the Internet that I realized how valuable it can be. As someone who is totally deafblind, the Internet allowed me to communicate with anyone around the world without my deafness being a factor. The Internet also allows me to shop for large items which is nice since I can't drive and don't always have sighted assistance for these kinds of purchases.
 
Jiro said:
that's still considered as "convenient tool" which replaces snail mail and costly long-distance telephone. I meant that some people substituted real life with Internet.


that would be considered as a "convenient tool" as well. At least they were not using Internet as a substitution to having real social contacts. emails, txt, meetup.com, evite.com, etc. are a great tool to meet people and/or to organize the events with friends/family.


:hmm: good point!
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If someone wants to withdraw from society, they will find a way to do it, be it the internet, obsessively watching movies, obsessively reading books, etc. Finding a substitute for personal interaction is nothing new.
 
Thanks for an interesting article, Jiro.

I think by having a moderate use to the internet can also be valuable for many reasons; whether it may be for personal interaction, shopping, communicating, reading news article or anything that comes up with it.

If one were to become WAY too dependable on internet - That can pose a problem not only because of shunning yourself from the reality, it also can diminish many things that the internet does not have to offer for. What I mean is - There is more to life than the internet.

Just saying. :)
 
Jolie77 said:
Thanks for an interesting article, Jiro.

I think by having a moderate use to the internet can also be valuable for many reasons; whether it may be for personal interaction, shopping, communicating, reading news article or anything that comes up with it.

If one were to become WAY too dependable on internet - That can pose a problem not only because of shunning yourself from the reality, it also can diminish many things that the internet does not have to offer for. What I mean is - There is more to life than the internet.

Just saying. :)
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Yup! I don't understand why so many Internet users spend too much time on games, social networks, etc... little is fine to me but not too much which won't do good and waste their time... useless. Internet is one of the best inventions for sure (esp for the deaf), but they (and we) still need to control the time with it like we said here. Guess that teens are teens after all by the way. lol
 
senior citizens: my parents are almost 80 years old. They have hi-speed internet. My dad keeps busy with wall street online better than drive up to see broker or office. My mom kept touch grandchildren in emails, research something interest stories and have fun with bridge card game online.

That's good for my parents to keep busy with mental better than end up at Nursing Home.
 
I have noticed that I've been using a bit less internet now than before, when I used to be on much of the time. So now I get more busy and spend less, I normally use online just to see the news, use AD forum to interact, and shopping at Amazon's or to reserve something thru online which is more convenient.

In the old time, I used to be in chat room, and camfrog for hours, but now I rarely go there since it isn't much out there.

Another thing is some people are cutting back and put internet off line or go back to dial-up to save budget due to economy.

Thanks for the interesting article Jiro. :)
 
Bottesini said:
It's a good thing. I could run my whole life with never leaving home. I can command anything brought to my home by internet.
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Yep. Due to my disability and if I don't get the surgeries I need, I won't be able to hold a full-time job outside of the home. Having the internet would enable me to run a business from my home (making things and selling them on the internet). Now only if our dumb governor would accept the stimulus money from the government...I really need that stimulus check to start up my business. He rejected it because he claims it would not create jobs...well it would create a job for me! He is nothing but a self-righteous asshole with his head so far up his ass he can't see nothing positive that would come from the stimulus money.
 
Adamsmomma said:
Yep I can't remember the last time I PAID a bill-- like w/a check~ except my storage unit who doesn't even take debit cards... ugh! I do so much online- it's quite sad actually that I'm so dependent on it! (off to re-evaluate my life.... :roll::roll: LOL)
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Yup, I pay all of my bills online, too. The only thing I ever use paper to pay with, is to pay the rent (writing a check to pay the monthly rent).
 
Jiro said:
here's a thing - the question is not if we're dependent on Internet. It's how we use internet. Some uses it as a "substitution" and/or add-on for their social life. some uses it as a "convenient tool" to pay/order/read online with ease. some uses it as a living such as selling/writing/etc to make some money. et cetera et cetera....

I consider it BAD if your life is largely dependent on Internet because if Internet was gone/disrupted, your life becomes "diminished." I have had a serious Internet addiction in the past but I finally got over it and I treat Internet as a valuable tool. nothing more. It does sadden me to see the youths being so hooked on their Sidekick/BB/iPhone, Myspace, Facebook, and Twitter.... it's pathetic.
Click to expand...

Then what are you doing on AllDeaf.com? Get off the internet! :laugh2:
 
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