The broadband difference Lee Rainie – Director Capital Cabal, Washington, D.C. June 27, 2002
“Oh, like you know something the Internet doesn’t know.”
The double-edged Internet Good wire Overcomes differences Creates opportunities Encourages tolerance Revives community Fosters creativity Enriches cultural production Enhances participation Bad wire Erodes tradition Creates balkanization Reduces privacy Destroys indigenous cultures Cuts back community involvement Encourages crime and anti-social behavior
The big picture 116 million American adults are online – 61% of all adults >30 million children, including 73% of teenagers 64 million-70 million online on any given day 41 million online at work on any given day (55 million have access at work)
Popular activities on a typical day online – 50% News – 24% Surfing for fun – 21% Hobby info. – 20% Factoid search – 19% Check weather – 17% Work research – 15% Product info. – 14% Info. about leisure activities – 13% Inst. messaging – 13% Sports – 10% Banking – 9% Govt. Web sites – 8% Play game – 7% Medical info. – 7% Buy a product – 4% Job info. – 4% Download music – 3%
How the Internet helps in everyday life
Broadband amplifies, intensifies everything A fat-pipe effect Spend more time logged on Do more things online Do them more often Feel better about the Internet’s role in their lives Change the way they spend their time
Broadband changes online behavior Create and share content Multimedia use and multitasking Taking online activities that used to be performed offline
Broadband adoption
Frequency of online use How often do you sit down and access the Internet from home? % of broadband users % of dial-up users Several times a day43%19% About once a day days a week days a week921 Once every few weeks17 Less Often*4 Source: Home Broadband Users, Pew Internet & American Life Project February 2002 Survey, Internet users, n=507;margin of error is ±4%. Dial-Up Users, January 2002 Survey, n=1,415; margin of error is ±3%.
Demographics: Broadband v. Dial-Up The percent of Internet users in each group who are … Home Broadband UsersDial-Up Users Male56%49% Female4451 Community Type Rural1124 Suburban6051 Urban2925 Education Level High school or less1337 Some college28 College graduate or more5935 Internet Experience Online in past 6 months17 Online for about a year413 Online 2-3 years2135 Online 4-5 years2824 Online 6 years or more4220
The broadband picture: Communications activities
The broadband picture: Information seeking –1
The broadband picture: Information seeking – 2
The broadband picture: Transactions
The broadband picture: Entertainment activities
The broadband picture: Information producing
The broadband picture: Downloading
The broadband picture: Media streaming
Broadband helps even more Ability to do my job: +17 points Pursue my hobbies: +17 points Ability to shop: +17 points Manage my personal finances: +17 points Learn new things: +13 points Connections to family: +13 points Connections to friends: +8 points Connect to organizations in my local community: +8 points Get health care information: +6 points
Changes in time use 37% say their Internet use has cut their time watching TV 31% say it has decreased the time they spend shopping in stores 18% say it has decreased their time reading newspapers 13% say it has decreased the time they spend in traffic 25% say it has increased the time they spend working at home
The next broadband customers 40% of dialup users want it – –53% of dialup users who have 6 or more years of experience want it – –The proportion of broadband users who are women and from households with moderate incomes will grow Not hard to see a day in the next 5 years when about two thirds of current Internet users have broadband
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