Many People In Large Cities Go Without Internet

[64K]

This surprised me because everyone I know has internet service.

http://arstechnica.com/business/201...er-cities-nearly-40-percent-go-internet-free/

 

[RCoon]

So, mainly Ohio?

 

[rtwjunkie]

I see my region is well-represented: New Orleans, Mobile, Birmingham, Jackson. The Gulf South has alot of poverty.

 

[64K]

So, mainly Ohio?

Yeah, the Michigan and Ohio region has a good bit of poverty due to that region being heavily invested in the auto industry and many of those jobs have been outsourced to other countries or plants have been moved to areas of the USA where the labor is cheaper. Detroit Michigan has been especially hard hit. They became the largest municipal filing for bankruptcy in US history. There debt was estimated at ~20 billion dollars at the time of filing.

 

[Tatty_Two]

I assume it means where no internet is available as opposed to those that don't actually have/want it?

 

[Kursah]

That or they're all stealing the Interwebz from eachothers' WiFi and not telling the polls what's really going on.

 

[64K]

I assume it means where no internet is available as opposed to those that don't actually have/want it?

From my understanding of the article it includes both people that have no access to broadband and people who can't afford it/ don't want it.

This FCC chart shows that a fairly small amount of Americans don't have access to broadband.

https://apps.fcc.gov/edocs_public/attachmatch/DOC-329160A1.pdf

Kursah has a point. It would be interesting to see some estimates on how many households are thought to be leeching off of a neighbors unsecured wireless or hacked their wireless network password.

 

[rtwjunkie]

That or they're all stealing the Interwebz from eachothers' WiFi and not telling the polls what's really going on.

Until you look at the cities in the list that might be a good theory. I know of the 4 in my region on the report that I listed, all four have large populations below the poverty line, so broadband would be prohibitive. And then there's the Rust Belt cities in Ohio and Michigan too to account for.

 

[Tatty_Two]

Until you look at the cities in the list that might be a good theory. I know of the 4 in my region on the report that I listed, all four have large populations below the poverty line, so broadband would be prohibitive. And then there's the Rust Belt cities in Ohio and Michigan too to account for.

Yes, demographics will play a big part of it, for example cities with a high elderly count would possible have less users, then as you have said, poverty would play a big part even though over here with some very "basic" TV subscriptions Broadband is thrown in for free by some companies.

 

[rtwjunkie]

...even though over here with some very "basic" TV subscriptions Broadband is thrown in for free by some companies.

Complimentary broadband, I like! It seems to me that is a great idea, because the internet is such a basic part of life now, more so than even basic television service.

 

[64K]

I guess people in the larger cities might still have dial up internet but that is archaic. As for gamers I don't know if Steam would even service them but even if they did it would take ~25 days to download a 15 GB game at 56K.

 

[remixedcat]

Some people just use a phone as well.

A stylist I had at a salon here only has a galaxy s4 And no PC.

 

[Arctucas]

Free Internet for everyone!

While we are at it; free everything for everybody!

Damn Socialists.

Here is a thought; get a job, or do without.

 

[xorbe]

Cities with the most old people. FL hits the top ten twice!

Or, neighbors are sharing internet, and have cell phone service individually.

 

[twilyth]

Some people just use a phone as well.

A stylist I had at a salon here only has a galaxy s4 And no PC.

Yeah, as more people ditch landlines and only use their mobile phones, even dialup isn't really an option. I know someone like this too and I'm looking into Miracast for them. This way they can use their phone's data plan and mirror the display to a tv. Add an external keyboard, and they should have what amounts to essentially pc-equivalent internet access. All they need to do is buy a dongle like the new Amazon firestick that supports Miracast and they're good to go.

 

[XSI]

@64K "I guess people in the larger cities might still have dial up internet but that is archaic. As for gamers I don't know if Steam would even service them but even if they did it would take ~25 days to download a 15 GB game at 56K."

something is off with this math, it's only 4GB per week on maximum speed, so, it would take more than 1,5 month!!!
I had 33,6...max download ~4KB/s + dial-up is unstable, and barely achieves max speed. I needed about one week non stop download to download 1GB.
edit: it was 2002... now it takes about 1,5-2minutes and for some of my friends...like 12-15 sec.

 

[Liquid Cool]

Interesting thread...we're getting ready to probably turn the internet off at our house. Just too expensive.

Someone commented above about no job...no internet, this leaves the handicappers in the lurch.

I'm caught in the middle.

Best,

LC

 

[remixedcat]

I think omaha has a cheap wireless isp that's like 20/mo or something you could look into?? I had a friend out there that used them... forget the name. They paid 15/mo for theirs

 

[twilyth]

You can always try tethering on your cellphone. Some of the smaller mobile providers have up 5-10gb/month plans for between $35 and $55/month. You just need to make sure they'll let you do tethering or mobile hotspot with the phone.

 

[remixedcat]

If you got a rooted android it makes tethering much nicer.

 

[Tatty_Two]

Free Internet for everyone!

While we are at it; free everything for everybody!

Damn Socialists.

Here is a thought; get a job, or do without.

If you live in a country with several million unemployed and a stuttering economy that may not always be so easy for some.

 

[RCoon]

over here with some very "basic" TV subscriptions Broadband is thrown in for free by some companies.

If you have a phone contract with EE or Orange, you can get 20Mbit Broadband for £2 a month. My partner has it, and gets an actual 12.9Mbit with 2Mbit upload. Pretty good for £2 a month, and viable for a lot of households who don't have a landline but do like a mobile phone contract. It helps that I work in Education too, because I get entitled to 20% discount on my monthly tariffs.

I couldn't operate without my 84Mbit broadband though. I upload and download on a daily basis in great amounts. Uploading 1440@60P to youtube takes its toll.

 

[AsRock]

In the end every American should be able to get online one way or another as it's being more a requirement for even job hunting and if it was not due to places like your local library even more would go with out, well that's if it's around still ours been closed down 3 times over the last 10 years.

Going on like everyone's a hacker who don't have internet and bs, sounds more like a excuse not to face the fact, and those who don't want it might end up needing it one day and question is would they be able to get it if they don't have a local library ?.

 

[Jetster]

There is nothing wrong with not having internet

 

[newconroer]

Inconveniences aside, most of these people are better off. I can't even dream any more about a world without mobile devices and the internet. I have to go watch a Blu Ray of Dirty Harry to imagine what normal life used to be like.