Americans online faster, more often
TEXT OF STORY
SCOTT JAGOW: A study out today says more than three-quarters of Americans now use the Internet, and more than half them get there with a high-speed connection. Brian Watt has more.
BRIAN WATT: USC’s Center for the Digital Future has been tracking who goes online and how for the last six years.
Director Jeffrey Cole says cable modems and DSL have changed everything, even a computer’s location in the home.
The 37 percent of us who still use dial up connections are likely to keep the computer in the bedroom or a back office and only log on once or twice a day.
JEFFREY COLE: And with broadband, you’re on 30, 40, 50 times a day and you want the Internet center stage. You want it in the kitchen. You want it in the family room. You want it where you are because you’re going on so many times for two minutes at a time.
Cole says this changes the way the Internet competes with the television. Going online is now something you can do quickly while the commercials are on.
I’m Brian Watt for Marketplace.
There’s a lot happening in the world. Through it all, Marketplace is here for you.
You rely on Marketplace to break down the world’s events and tell you how it affects you in a fact-based, approachable way. We rely on your financial support to keep making that possible.
Your donation today powers the independent journalism that you rely on. For just $5/month, you can help sustain Marketplace so we can keep reporting on the things that matter to you.
