Millions prefer to go Netless

Journal Record, The (Oklahoma City), Sep 22, 2000

AUSTIN (AP) -- The head of the Texas AFL-CIO understands technology's benefits for future generations of workers. But Joseph Gunn's personal office is void of computers, and he would rather let his wife and staff surf the Internet on his behalf.

"To some degree I feel bliss in being ignorant," said Gunn, 69, one of millions of Americans saying no to Net life. "I'd rather read during what time I might devote sitting on the Internet."

A study released Thursday by the Pew Internet and American Life Project found that more than half the American adults who don't currently use the Internet have little or no desire to get online.

They are America's Netless by choice, and their lack of interest suggests it will take a lot more time than many had thought before the United States becomes a fully connected nation.

After a 10-hour day selling Abraham Lincoln memorabilia outside the late president's home in Springfield, Ill., Thomas Rebman can think of plenty of reasons to avoid the Internet. Mostly, he doesn't think he's missing anything.

"I don't have the time or the need," said Rebman, 38. "I'm not one to do online purchases. I'd rather go to a library during my leisure time than sit there in front of a computer."

Lee Rainie, director of the Pew project, said the Internet story is no longer about "everybody's doing it. Everybody's loving it.... There's this other group of folks who say, `It's not for me.'"

According to Pew, about 50 percent of American adults said they are not Internet users. Thirty-two percent of that group -- or 31 million Americans -- said they definitely will not go online. Another 25 percent said they probably won't go online.

Fear, technophobia and disinterest are among the main reasons.

Fifty-four percent of all nonusers believe the Internet is dangerous, and 51 percent do not believe they are missing anything, according to Pew, whose findings were primarily based on an April telephone survey of 2,503 adults and have a margin of error of plus or minus 3 percentage points.

The numbers did, however, suggest that the Net naysayers will decline over time.

While nearly three-quarters of nonusers over 50 said they do not plan to get Internet access, only one-third of their younger counterparts plan to stay Netless.

"It might take a generation," Rainie said, before the entire nation is comfortably online.

Martha Terry, a 59-year-old caterer in Glasgow, Ky., heard good things about the Internet from her son. But she's not convinced.

"The computer bothers me, makes me nervous," she said. "I feel like I don't have control. A lot of it is because I don't understand it."

Thirty-nine percent of nonusers complained about the cost of getting online, while 36 percent said doing so is too difficult.

Internet appliances are being developed to make access simpler and affordable, but they won't address the fears or disinterest.

The study also found 13 percent of nonusers are dropouts -- they once had access but no longer do. Fourteen percent of all Americans have a computer but are not online.

Universal access may never be achievable, said Tara McPherson, a University of Southern California professor who studies access to technology. She said a small number of Americans remains without phones or television sets today, often by choice.

Dan Bassill, who promotes access to low-income families through Cabrini Connections in Chicago, said he is more concerned about Americans who want access but cannot get it for financial and other reasons.

"We're far premature to be talking about those who don't want to be connected," he said. "Let's find ways to help the ones who want to use technology get it and put it to work."

For Brent McCumber, 35, an insurance agent in Cadillac, Mich., time on the Internet would mean time away from his two toddlers. He doesn't watch TV or subscribe to newspapers, either.

But he lamented his Netless attitude can only go so far. "I think eventually it will come to a point we'll have to have it," he said.

"As our children grow older, I don't want them to be computer illiterate."