A recent report from Pew Research showed that broadband usage grew to 63 percent of U.S. households from 55 percent. So why are 21 percent of American adults shaking their fists angrily because they don’t want Internet at home?

The study showed a surprising leap of 8 percent growth in broadband usage among American households despite the economic crisis. This was especially surprising based on lackluster growth during the previous year.

There are still a number of groups that are slow to adopt broadband in their homes. These groups include senior citizens, those with low income, high school graduates, older Baby Boomers and those in rural areas.

The groups with the strongest pattern of broadband adoption are high-income Americans and college graduates. Over four out of five adults in these groups are likely to have a home broadband connection.

Another 7 percent of Americans are still using dial-up Internet connections, a number that has plummeted by half since last year. Of these users, 83 percent have broadband access available and are not interested in switching for one reason or another.

All together, the total between current users of broadband, those still on dial-up and the people who aren’t interested in getting online make up 91 percent of the population. That leaves only 9 percent potential growth of broadband connectivity until the population shifts.

So what is it about the Internet that leaves one out of every five completely disinterested in getting online? Most are just plain not interested, though some cannot get Internet access and others don’t own a computer to get online.

For many people that get their news and interact with friends online, this may seem like a strange notion. However it shows a large demographic of U.S. consumers cannot be reached via online advertising. It also looks like many brands may continue spending on television ads for a few more years to come.

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Entry was posted on Thursday, June 18th, 2009 at 10:07 am under Internet, Technology.

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