Do you know anyone who has never been on the internet?

[queentess]

Originally Posted by Worldwalker

No, it isn't. Email, for example, is part of the Internet. The Web is just one of the many services that ride the Internet. It's mostly the young and inexperienced who think "the Internet" means "the Web" and nothing more. The kind of people who think 40 is old. The kind of people who think getting ones email is "never doing anything online" because it isn't the Web.

Ah, but for those of us who exclusively use web-based services, the internet is synonymous with the web

And now, two anecdotes!

I interviewed a 40-ish woman last week who is applying to be my clerical support. She asked about pitfalls that come with the job, so I explained the two things my employer does that sometimes throws off people (especially in a clerical role): 1. we use Macs (for business!) and 2. we use entirely web-based software. I tried to explain that we use Google Apps and Gmail, so you log into your email on "the web", and this is convenient if you need to access your work email from outside the office (no vpn's to monkey with). After 5 minutes of trying to explain, her response was "oh, like Yahoo?"

Another woman I work with (also in the 40ish crowd) spent 30 minutes on her first day here trying to "log in to your internet" (she meant intranet, and we don't have one). What she had done was open a Firefox browser to attempt to log in to the page set as the homepage, which was our online expense reporting software.

[PitterPat]

I can think of 2 - my 75 year old ex-FIL and a 70-ish year old 3rd cousin. Even some of my uncles and aunts in their 80's use the internet.

[Pomtroll]

My Two Aunts & Uncles in their 80's & 90's & my mother in-law who is 89. They haven't done e-mail either.

[CazMar]

I thought about this for a while but can honestly say I don't know anyone who has never used the internet. I know plenty of people who aren't very techy (I know because they ring me all the time!) but just because they get into problems doesn't mean they can't use the internet. Even elderly friends who don't own a computer use the local library to search the Net.
When I started using computers in the late 60's a lot of people like accountants etc seemed to view them as a passing fad! I could see what was going to happen and learnt how to use them, as a consequence I gave myself a real career boost and walked straight into a few really good jobs.
Soon there won't be anyone left in Australia who doesn't use a computer - I guess the same could be said for Europe, the USA and most of developed Asia.

[Maggie Leung]

http://pewresearch.org/pubs/1809/int...come-americans

Adding worldwide stats:
http://www.internetworldstats.com/stats.htm

[joycedb]

The only thing my husband does on the computer is play Solitaire. And sometimes I have to help him with that. But he can't even work a VCR (yes, we still use one) or the dishwasher or washing machine. He does know how to throw clothes in the dryer and push the button though.

Other people in my family are his brothers and sisters. There are five still living who aren't interested in learning.

But I make up for the computer time they don't use. I don't always know what I'm doing though, hence the awkward placement of my book cover below.

Joyce

[ficbot]

Originally Posted by Worldwalker

Before you start laughing at people who don't use the Internet in the same way you do

Whoa. Where did I say I was laughing? I was *surprised* that's all. I have great love and respect for my aunt. I spent the whole afternoon helping her. Perhaps my terminology was not as clear as it could be, but why do you have to be nasty about it? Geez.

[SensualPoet]

As the Pew Internet research indicates, almost 15% of US households don't have Internet access at home; so it's not surprising that those 20 million households don't translate into some people who have never used the Internet. But, it's relatively rare and becoming rarer. (I admit a 60 yr old lawyer having never been on the Internet stretches my credulity but that's another matter.) I can't say I know of anyone personally who has not used the Internet; all of my Facebook friends use it.

[Girl Read Write]

I know quite a few people who are older and who don't use the Internet in any way. My father's sixty-five and is not computer literate, so he's never used a computer or the Internet. He can barely use his cell phone, the DVR, and the CD burner. I used to teach a basic computer applications course and I BEGGED him to take my class, but he refused. My mom and I have both even offered to show him around the computer at home, but you know, I think he feels too intimidated by them. He just doesn't understand computer-related stuff--because he's never been interested in trying, really. Funny little story: I remember about ten years ago, when we were talking about computers in front of him. My mom was mentioning throwing out our old circa-1993 Mac; nobody was using it and it was just collecting dust. My dad was all, "But that computer cost over $1000!" We had to explain to him how these things depreciate VERY quickly and how they're quickly replaced with "better" models and become "worthless" after seven or eight years. What's interesting is that he kind of tries to stay in the know about stuff like Twitter and Facebook--since these are now household terms. When the iPad first came out he was enthusiastic about it, like he wanted one; he watches the news a lot and the tech segments and commercials probably sold him on it. At that moment I realized something about Apple: they can make someone who has never as much as pressed the power button on a computer want an iPad--that's good marketing (and maybe it's intentional). I thought about buying him one, just so he can have one and play around with it. But sometimes I think...mule...spinning wheel?

[wvcherrybomb]

Unfortunately, most people I know (other than relatives) don't even have computers and have never used the internet. Most of my friends from West Virginia have just gotten cell phones in the past couple of years.

Now I live in Florida and none of my neighbors - and I use that term loosely - have ever used the internet. That's probably why we can't get any DSL out here ... we are the only potential customers.

[GreenMonkey]

People over-estimate the tech-saavy nature of the average person.

My aunt hasn't used the internet, except perhaps for training or mandatory stuff at her job at the Meijer deli. She's an angry old cat lady though (50s).

Most of what I know is older people that technically use the internet, but use it badly. My dad has been using computers since his Tandy in the early 90s, but still needs help a lot. Recently his g/f installed a game and of course clicked OK OK OK OK. It reset his homepage in firefox. He didn't know how to change it back. "There's some game page now when I open Foxfire..how do I get the normal internet back".

At least now that I have his systems on Vista / win 7 I don't have to worry about his install. Normally I had to clean up his XP every 6-8 months from hundreds and hundreds of viruses and spyware toolbar popups. Things are much better noow.

[Maggie Leung]

Online use broken down by age groups:

http://www.pewinternet.org/Infograph...over-time.aspx

Online use broken down state by state in the U.S. (from 2007):

http://www.ntia.doc.gov/reports/2008...ternet2007.pdf
(On the second page of the PDF)

[elcreative]

Funny how things work out... my experience tends to the opposite... most of the computer fixing I do results from "smart-ass" teens who know it all and 20-40's with a little knowledge (you know... a dangerous thing)... most problems self-inflicted but when asked, they've "not done a thing, installed anything or been to an oddball site in months" so you then waste time tracking the problem down whilst subtly questioning them until they suddenly remember something "but that couldn't have caused the problem" and usually did... oh yes, and this is coming from a user that's been using computers since 1967 (built one at school from relays and diodes before transistors let alone chips) and started on the net before it was the net...

On the other hand, nobody ever went broke underestimating the stupidity of people...

Originally Posted by GreenMonkey

People over-estimate the tech-saavy nature of the average person.

Most of what I know is older people that technically use the internet, but use it badly. My dad has been using computers since his Tandy in the early 90s, but still needs help a lot. Recently his g/f installed a game and of course clicked OK OK OK OK. It reset his homepage in firefox. He didn't know how to change it back. "There's some game page now when I open Foxfire..how do I get the normal internet back".

[cmargm]

Just to let you know, my father who is 92, uses the computer faithfully. He researches for his books, looks up ancestry information, etc. Several years ago he said he would never get a computer, so go figure! Where as my mother is terrified to even touch a keyboard key.

[ficbot]

Originally Posted by GreenMonkey

Recently his g/f installed a game and of course clicked OK OK OK OK. It reset his homepage in firefox. He didn't know how to change it back. "There's some game page now when I open Foxfire..how do I get the normal internet back".

Heh. I remember the time my stepdad accidentally clicked on a pop-up ad or something and reset the home page to a porn site. He called me in an absolute panic to fix it before my mother got home because he was afraid she would see it and think he had been using porn

Fwiw I have great respect for people like my aunt who have no experience with this in their lives and yet are ready to take the plunge and learn it at this stage. I imagine it would be like learning a foreign language to some of them. My aunt is a bit of a new-agey type and has a crystal she uses to guide her in her decisions. The crystal is very enthusiastic about her getting an iPad And yes, it sounds weird, but if that gives her comfort, so be it.

Oh, and I did ask the crystal if DRM would be going the way of the dodo soon. The crystal had no flippin' idea The spirit world has nothing to say on this one, folks---we is on our own