WATPA: FW: Internet has become a necessity, U.S. poll says (InfoWorld)
Norman J. Jacknis (njacknis@ix.netcom.com)
Tue, 8 Dec 1998 21:58:15 -0500
> Internet has become a necessity, U.S. poll says
>
> By Mary Lisbeth D'Amico
> InfoWorld Electric
>
> Posted at 8:46 AM PT, Dec 4, 1998
> If you were stranded on a desert island and could have access to the
Internet, a telephone, or a television, which would you choose?
>
> If you said TV or phone, you are in the minority among U.S. online
users -- at least, according to America Online (AOL). In a poll released
Thursday of 1,001 U.S. online users with Internet access from their home,
67 percent said they would choose a computer with Internet access if they
were marooned on a desert island for an extended period of time. Another 23
percent chose a phone, while only 9 percent opted for television.
>
> The poll was conducted in August by AOL and market research firm Roper
Starch Worldwide.
>
> About 87 percent of those polled said they would miss online access if
it were no longer available to them, and 64 percent who have been going
online from home for three years or more say they would miss online access
"a lot," and that "using an online or Internet service is just about a
necessity to me," the study said.
>
> Roughly three quarters of those polled said that being online has made
their lives better, according to the study. Eight in 10 people said the
Internet makes many activities easier and more convenient, and among those
with children, half said that being online has a more positive influence on
their kids than watching television.
>
> Many respondents were unwilling to quit going online while on vacation.
Of those respondents that owned a laptop computer, 47 percent said they
take it with them on vacation, and about 26 percent of all users said they
check their e-mail on vacation.
>
> Some 94 percent of those polled said going online makes it easier to
communication with family and friends, with 87 percent regularly doing so.
However, differences in usage emerged according to age group. Online users
over the age of 50 are more likely to use the Internet to manage and plan
their finances, while those between the ages of 18 and 24 are more likely
to use it to socialize, the study said.
>
> Getting a profile of the typical user, about 65 percent of the online
population is over age 35. Users are more likely to have graduated from
college, be married, have children under the age of 18, and to represent a
higher median household income bracket than the American public at large,
according to the study.
>
> America Online Inc., based in Dulles, Va., can be reached at (703)
448-8700 or www.aol.com.
>
> Mary Lisbeth D'Amico is a correspondent in the Munich bureau of the IDG
News Service, an InfoWorld affilate.
http://www.infoworld.com/cgi-bin/displayStory.pl?98124.einetpoll.htm