The FCC commissioned a superb study of American usage of the Internet and related media. It was superb because the sample was drawn mostly from cell phone interviews with call backs.
Here are some of the findings that interested me:
* 85% of Americans have and use a cell phone. 80% use a computer. Three-quarters of Americans have computers with Internet access at home. Nearly all of these are Internet connections --- high-speed. Nearly 60% of those Internet connections are via cable. Those numbers are surprisingly high.
* One third of the Americans with a computer have 3 or more computers at home, almost as many have 3 or more cell phones. Sounds like me.
* In order of usage, the Internet is used to: buy online (78%), get news (75%), visit government websites (75%), do finance or banking (63%). Then in the intermediate usage range are, in order: deal with a potential job or job information (57%), social networking (52%), write a review (52%), download music (47%) upload photos (45%). All of these are surprisingly high to me.
* The main reason any American recently started using the Internet: to deal with emails from family and friends. No surprise there.
* Cell phones are used, in order, to: send and receive text (66%), send and receive photos (52%) and access the web for multiple reasons from email to maps (28%). Photos are the surprise to me.
* The median cell phone bill is estimated at $75 per household. A third of the bills are over $100. Mine is $150.
If you read the entire survey you will find there is no strong policy that supports a national broadband policy. People will use higher speeds, but they are not currently dissatisfied.
Rest assured, such wise use of this information will be ignored by Congress and the FCC.
Here are some of the findings that interested me:
* 85% of Americans have and use a cell phone. 80% use a computer. Three-quarters of Americans have computers with Internet access at home. Nearly all of these are Internet connections --- high-speed. Nearly 60% of those Internet connections are via cable. Those numbers are surprisingly high.
* One third of the Americans with a computer have 3 or more computers at home, almost as many have 3 or more cell phones. Sounds like me.
* In order of usage, the Internet is used to: buy online (78%), get news (75%), visit government websites (75%), do finance or banking (63%). Then in the intermediate usage range are, in order: deal with a potential job or job information (57%), social networking (52%), write a review (52%), download music (47%) upload photos (45%). All of these are surprisingly high to me.
* The main reason any American recently started using the Internet: to deal with emails from family and friends. No surprise there.
* Cell phones are used, in order, to: send and receive text (66%), send and receive photos (52%) and access the web for multiple reasons from email to maps (28%). Photos are the surprise to me.
* The median cell phone bill is estimated at $75 per household. A third of the bills are over $100. Mine is $150.
If you read the entire survey you will find there is no strong policy that supports a national broadband policy. People will use higher speeds, but they are not currently dissatisfied.
Rest assured, such wise use of this information will be ignored by Congress and the FCC.