A Quarter of the EU Has Never Used the Web 392
smitty777 writes "Reuters reports that a quarter of the EU has yet to use the internet. Further, half of those in some of the southern and western states do not even have internet access at home. From the article: 'As well as highlighting geographic disparities across one of the world's most-developed regions, the figures underline the lack of opportunity people in poorer communities have to take part in advances such as the Internet that have delivered lower cost goods and service to millions of people.' The full report created by Eurostat can be found here."
Re:Internet at home (Score:5, Insightful)
The internet is an important right (Score:4, Insightful)
Everyone should have access to the internet. Those at the poorest end of society need it the most because all the best utility deals are online, as is a lot of government information.
Re:The internet is an important right (Score:2, Insightful)
The internet is a tool in the same way as a TV is a tool...
It's not essential. Most people can get by without the TV. Most people don't NEED internet access at home either...
It would be nice to see more data about age (Score:5, Insightful)
The article (and report) conclude that "24 percent of 16-74 year olds across the 27 countries in the European Union have never accessed the Internet". Meanwhile in the parts of the EU with the highest Internet use (such as in the Scandinavian countries) the rate of Internet access (ie people who actively use the Internet, not people who've used it only once) is in the 90%.
I would assume part of the reason for the statistic is that 16-74 is a pretty big age span. Particularly when it comes to new technology. It wouldn't surprise me if the "never used internet" population is almost entirely in the 50+ age bracket. Unfortunately the article, and report, doesn't give that information.
No, it isn't (Score:5, Insightful)
Not all the world is the USA, and you do not have a monopoly on enforcing the meaning of words.
Give them time (Score:4, Insightful)
Just like with all things, time and a compelling reason is needed to adopt new practices. My mother disliked it when computers were introduced in her job and after retirement was not interested in using the home PC for leisure purposes. When the nest became empty, Skype became a necessity. Last time I visited, she was looking at the camera and saying "hmmm, this photo is too dark but I'll adjust the brightness when I get home"...once at home she was complaining the computer was "too damn slow!" to get anything done...
Re:Internet at home (Score:1, Insightful)
Trolling much?
It is a completely relevant question. If a quarter of the population never have used the web, but half of the population has Internet access, it follows that either half those with Internet access have never used it, or that the sentence is formulated so poorly that misunderstandings are bound to ensue.
Re:Wikipedia (Score:5, Insightful)
A lot of EU countries are less developed (Score:5, Insightful)
The EU has a wide spread of countries, and development levels. Rural Romania has a different level of wealth and technology infrastructure than urban Finland, for example.
You make a good point about trust as an issue why some people might not take up internet use. My 77 year old father here in the UK does not go shopping online. I think part of this is lack of trust with the novel (to him) environment. Also, he doesn't need to go online. All his local services are within a few kilometres and he likes doing business in person. He is retired, so he can go to the bank and shops during quiet times of the day. Some people don't need the internet, or if they have access to it, choose not to use it.
For some people in Europe it is technical infrastructure. Check out a map of Europe and you will find that there are large areas where there is low speed or little access to the internet - modem speed access or maybe no access to fixed line telephones or mobile coverage. In Scotland, there is better coverage for 3G phones in the seas around the country than on the surface area of the land (internet is usually ok up to 2Mbs via land line in this country).
For quite a number of people in Europe, they cannot afford the cost of an internet connection. Check out prices in some of the lower developed European countries compared to state pension levels for example. For the young, employed, urban Europeans in highly developed countries internet costs are low compared to income, but for many others this is not the case.
Re:Internet at home (Score:5, Insightful)
It doesn't say half the population. It clearly states half of "some southern and western states".
Lack comprehension much?
Re:Internet at home (Score:2, Insightful)
(1) "the EU" vs "those in some southern and western states";
(2) "quarter of the EU" referring to individuals vs "at home" referring to households - most households comprise more than one person.
This is the sort of reading comprehension exercise an average ten year old should have mastered.
Re:A lot of EU countries are less developed (Score:5, Insightful)
Amen to all that (Score:3, Insightful)
I'm really getting rather sick of listening to patronising Generation Y'ers that the net is the solution to all day to day transactions and that anyone who doesn't agree is some sort of reactionary luddite.
You know what? If those people want to live their lives online then thats their lookout.
But I actually LIKE going to shops to check out stuff physically before I buy in IT THE SHOP so I have somewhere to take it back to if it fails instead of having to parcel it up and go down the post office and pay money to send it back and then find out it got lost in the post and they never received it.
I LIKE sending cheques instead of using direct debit so *I* can choose on what day I pay, not have the money taken out regardless of how much is left in my account.
I LIKE speaking to a human on the end of a phone, not having to navigate through some feckin useless website which doesn't solve my problem anyway.
I LIKE using cash because I don't want my bank/CC company knowing about every single goddamn transaction I make.
And to sum up , I LIKE not having to be reliant on a sometimes unreliable piece of kit called a computer to run my entire feckin life.
Re:Internet at home (Score:4, Insightful)
Actually.. and i experienced this myself, if you are as a tourist in a area where everyone has internet in their home, it might be very hard to go on the internet.
There are no internet cafe's since there is no business model for it. Everyone has it at home.
There might be free wifi, but that requires a laptop. As a tourist i Do not carry a laptop.
Roaming via 3g is VERY expensive, and i only recent have a phone capable of wifi. That is not mainstream yet.
The effect is that the gap between have and havenot internet people only becomes greater. You can expierence it yourself as a tourist, but for some people this migh be the reality every day. If you have problems getting your daily needs (food, shelter), a computer for internet and a isp connection might be too expensive for you.
Re:I'm not so sure. (Score:3, Insightful)
In that case Ireland wasn't a true country for 800 of the last 900 years and yet we have one of the most unique and vibrant cultures in the world and we are not losing that anytime soon. Your rationale of a "true country" is wrong. Yyou are confusing economics and power with culture and patriotism. Most EU citizens still have huge national pride but they can understand the power of a single economic bloc.
The US economic federation is not logically separated from patriotic ideology in the same way. Citizens of different US states have ideologies that they believe to be more valid than their compatriots and more worthy of being described as the American way. Europeans have a sense of Europeanness but they identify more strongly with their country/unit.
300 or so million people is just too large a population to share a culture with and homogenizing statistics that are geographical in nature is meaningless.
Re:Been on the Internet since mid 80-ies (Score:5, Insightful)
There still are ample media available for you to live an informed life without using the Internet.
People with internet have invariably canceled their newspaper subscriptions. Once you drop the local newspaper, you've lost local news. The internet seriously does not provide the same sort of information availability for local coverage.
So we now have large demographics that have no clue whats going on locally. I travel through the neighboring town and occasionally I see lawn-signs up saying "vote no!" You think my friends who live in that town have a clue what thats about? No, they don't. Not even a hint of an idea about it, which is probably why they dont bother to vote.
I set up Google News to give me stories that mention my town, and that turns out to be nearly worthless. You simply wont find anything about that application for a liquor license, about the proposed repaving of west main street, about rezoning hill street and parker avenue, or about the shelter needing funds and volunteers desperately. Thats just whats going on this week.
A generation worried about everywhere else.... out of sight, so out of mind. Whats going on in Far Away Place is now more important than whats going on in their own communities. They think the federal government is the solution to every problem because thats all they fucking know about.. they can go on worrying about crap on the other side of the planet that doesnt even affect them and that they also have no power to effect and when things turn sour locally they wonder why nobody (ie, the federal government) did anything about it.
Re:I'm not so sure. (Score:4, Insightful)
"Most EU citizens still have huge national pride but they can understand the power of a single economic bloc."
Perhaps while all EU was about was easing trade across national borders. But now that one member is basically dictating to others how they should run their nations, pride may well override reason (if there is much of that left in the EU system, it seems to run on monetarist/neo-classical orthodoxy more then reason right now).
What is interesting is how clearly the Euro troubles are exposing where the bodies are buried. Notice how the British prime minister basically employed the British veto right to protect the city of London from a financial transaction tax. And the whole issue can in part be traced to German use of frozen wages tariffs to keep their exports going, making one wonder if it is indeed a single market.