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A couple articles last week from two British sources covering the same Pew Internet study: Research shows digital divide etched into US Net use out of PC Pro and Teens spurn email for messaging off the BBC's Website.
There's a lot of interesting things in the Pew survey, most of which will come as no surprise to people in the industries (wireless, Internet) or marketers dealing with teenagers. What I find spectacular in its inevitability -- and the inevitable surprise from technology proselytizers -- is the following (from the PcPro piece):
But it's not all bright shiny futures for high-tech-aware young adults. A digital divide is highlighted by Pew, which states that those teens who remain offline -- about three million people -- are clearly defined by lower levels of income and limited access to technology. They are also, accordeing to the report, disproportionately likely to be African-American.Surprise, surprise, surprise. At some level, somewhere, the stewards of every new technology will claim its ability to be a fantastic new social leveller. And it never, ever is. C'est la vie. Posted by Grayson at August 2, 2005 07:48 AM
This contrasts with the findings that nearly all teens in households earning more than $75,000 per year are online, mostly with high-speed connections.