A recent report from the Pew Internet & American Life Project suggests that even if broadband Internet is made more widely available in the U.S., 9% of adults said they aren't interested in switching from dial-up, and 25% of adults aren't on the Internet at all and are unlikely to change, according to two separate surveys.
Of that 9%, dial-up users who were asked what it would take for them to switch to broadband said the following:
Price must fall 35%
Nothing would get me to switch 19%
Don't know 16%
It would have to become available where I live 14%
Other 11%
Of that 25% who don't use the Internet at all, they listed the following reasons:
Not interested in getting online 33%
Can't get access 13%
Difficult 9%
Other reason 9%
Too expensive 7%
Too busy/no time 7%
Waste of time 7%
Don't have computer 4%
Too old to learn 3%
Physically unable 3%
While a broadband expansion program espoused by the Obama administration would address the problems of availability and price, two-thirds of the people who currently don't use broadband still aren't likely to start using it, Pew said.
On the other hand, the dial-up survey was performed in May, 2008, and the non-Internet-users survey was performed in December, 2007. It's easy to imagine that a similar survey held even now, not to mention when the broadband expansion might occur, could end up with different results.
In summary, Pew said, moving to broadband Internet may take longer than some advocates anticipate, because one in five Americans currently don’t have broadband for reasons that won’t be addressed by price cuts or a fiber node in the neighborhood.
