Digital chasm: 18% of U.S. households are netless; 30% have never used PC to create a document

RESEARCH TRIANGLE PARK, N.C. – Did you know that some 18 percent of U.S. households still don’t have access to the Internet?

Egad.

According to a new “National Technology Scan” survey from research firm Parks Associates, some 20 million households have yet to bring the Web inside the doorstep. Now you know just one of the many reasons why so many technology, industrial, educational and governmental leaders fear that the old US of A is losing its economic and competitive edge.

Want a bigger shock? Thirty percent of U.S. households have NEVER used a computer to create a document.

Heaven help us all. These statistics don’t point out the reality of a digital divide. It’s a digital chasm.

However, the news isn’t all bad. The Net results really are a sharp improvement over a 2006 survey that found 29 percent, or 31 million households, were netless.

Just who are the folks who have yet to find the Web to be essential? Half of those who said they didn’t use the Web are over 65, and 56 percent of the netless generation have no education beyond high school.

Plus, many of these folks aren’t too excited about getting wired, either. Only 7 percent of the disconnected plan to wire up over the next year.

Of course, $4 gas and soaring food costs could be very good reasons for these people – and many others – to stay tuned out.

But the real bottom line in terms of making an Internet investment is convincing the disconnected and PC-oblivious that both are essential to life in the digital age.

“Internet connections have slowly increased in U.S. households, but getting the disconnected minority online will continue to be difficult,” said John Barrett, the director of research at Parks. “Age and economics are important factors, but the heart of the challenge is deeper. Many people just don’t see a reason to use computers and do not associate technology with the needs and demands of their daily lives.”