Hard as it might be for Webheads to believe, a significant fraction of the US population doesn't use the Internet at home. In fact, 23 percent of all US households report that no one in the home uses the Internet anywhere. Why not? A detailed new study (PDF) from the Department of Commerce reminds us: many people don't see the need for this "Internet" thing at all.
Commerce parsed a big batch of US Census Data, most recently from late 2009, on US Internet use, and found that in general, it has exploded. Between 2001 and 2009, broadband usage in the US increased sevenfold, but a significant number of people just don't see the need.
The chart below shows the reasons reported in 2009 for not using broadband at home. Sixty-four percent of all US households now have broadband; among those that don't, the biggest reason is a lack of interest, followed by cost. As the Commerce report notes, "This means that a perceived lack of value or need was a more significant factor than affordability for non-use of broadband Internet services."
Also interesting: availability is no longer a serious issue for adoption, except insofar as limited competition affects the price of the service.
A few of these non-broadband households do actually have Internet access, usually through dial-up. The survey found that 5 percent of US households still subject themselves to dial-up, though the number continues to decline. "Dial-up users, on average, were older, had lower levels of family income and education, and were more likely to reside in rural areas," says the report.
What might convince more the holdouts to sign up for broadband? The Computer & Communications Industry Association (CCIA), which counts companies like Microsoft, Google, Yahoo, Oracle, and Facebook among its members, says the answer is, um, net neutrality?
"More folks are likely to sign up for broadband connections if the FCC assures them of an open Internet, where they can have access to everything, including video, online," said VP Cathy Sloan. "Yes, net neutrality rules will absolutely encourage broadband adoption."
This is more than a little hard to believe. Net neutrality means little to those who say they are "not interested" in the Internet, and it wouldn't lower broadband prices or provide a computer to those without one—the three biggest categories of broadband non-adopters.