More Britons Say No To Technology

New research from Point Topic indicates that as many as 44 percent of households in the United Kingdom lack Internet access and that 70 percent of those who do not have access do not intend to get it. This compares to 50 percent in 2005 who said they would not get access.

Katja Mueller, chief analyst for Point Topic, said, “As the number of non-access households shrinks, those that are left are increasingly resistant to its appeal.” One result of this dynamic, she noted, could be a growing digital divide separating those with access and those without. When asked whether they would be more likely to be connected if financial and skills barriers were eliminated, many Britons still expressed doubt. Emily Turberville-Tully, communication manager for Citizens Online, a nonprofit that investigates issues of technology access, said, “We are finding that people just don’t see the relevance [of the Internet] to their lives.” Unless those people can be convinced that the Internet will benefit them, they are unlikely to want to be connected, she said.

BBC, 26 October 2006