Internet Usage - Why the Ever-increasing Patronage

6/26/2009

As fulfillment of my course requirements, I conducted research on Internet Usage.  What caught my interest is a study by Patrick Tucker in “A New Ruler for the Digital Divide, which states that globally, between 2000 and 2006, internet usage grew by about 238% and the gap between people who actively use modern information technology like the internet and those who do not is shrinking rapidly.”  This remarkable grow rate made me decide to investigate who are the users and what contributed to the growth, especially when in another study by Susannah Fox of “Pew Internet and American Life Project on Digital Divide”, states others stopped using the internet because “they no longer have access, just lost interest, or decided it was too expensive to maintain.” (Fox 2)

To get some reasons for the growth I researched into the following articles and publications:

Ø  1   Patrick Tucker "A New Ruler for the Digital Divide

Ø  2   Susannah Fox of Pew Internet and American Life Project on Digital Divide

Ø  3   Laura Yeager  “I love the Internet”

Ø  4   Greg Toppo  “Offshore learning online Overseas tutors help students in USA”

Ø  5   Thomas Friedman, “Outsourcing, Schmoutsourcing Out Is”

Initially I had included an article on a study on “What do users do on the Internet,” a source I got from Google chrome, purported to have been done by University of Stanford.  I linked to the university database to see if I could locate the article.  Much as I tried I could not get any result.  I therefore discarded it and decided to source all my materials from EBSCO data base in view of the fact that materials in Ebsco are credible and also to save time.

Some of the reasons I got from Laura Yeager in her article “I love the Internet” were that through the internet a lot of things could be done online for free.  A number of things she enumerated are; free classes in writing, free critique on stories posted on line.  Emails, materials and information/articles submitted on line are free from postage and mailing charges.

Others also are, you can apply for grants and jobs and stay connected to the community through websites or blogs, you can post comments on discussion boards and or sign up to receive news letters.  Some too are, you can read classics and do research on the internet as well as talk to people through chat rooms, and at the same time you can find meanings to words without opening a dictionary.  All these things can be done for free if you have access to the internet.  What it means is that you can spread your money wider on a variety of things which otherwise would not have been possible.

 Notwithstanding these advantages, I was prompted to look into why Susannah Fox reported in her findings  that “as of May-June 2005, 68% of American adults or about 137 million people use the internet, up from 63% one year ago.” a growth of only 3%. (Fox 1)   Reading through the publication I noticed that there are challenges to the usage of internet, such as affordability of access relative to other expenditures of some households, socioeconomic factors, including age, education, geography, race and language; all these exclude others from the internet in their homes.   “According to the US Department of Education, only 37% of students from families with incomes below $20,000 are able to use a computer at home, while 88% of students from families with income beyond $75,000 have regular web access outside of the class room.” (Patrick Tucker) “Certain groups also continue to lag in their internet adoption, including Americans age 65 and older, African American and those with less education.  These constraints including the above make “32% of American adults or 65 million people do not use the internet and it is not always by choice.”(Fox 1)

For students, I uncovered that the internet provides a conduit for solving most of their learning problems if they can find tutors on the internet.  A study by Greg Toppo “Offshore learning online overseas tutors help students in USA” reveals that if it had not been offshore teaching online, an engineering student Jeff Bowman who lives in the Caribbean would not have passed his calculus. “Bowman needed help in calculus and a professor at the University of North Dakota suggested he get tutoring,” and from one of dozens of overseas tutors the university hired through a US company called Smarthinking, Jeff got a tutor in India that helped him pass his calculus.  In the report, I observed that “off shoring works well in higher education because students often need help at 3 am when it is midday in India or elsewhere.” (Greg)

In the business field I discovered the Internet is facilitating business transactions in a more effective manner.  In a report by Thomas Friedman, “Outsourcing, Schmoutsourcing Out Is” I realized that business men through their websites show people online all the different products they can offer so customers can chose from.  The report stated “Driver Jozef Bako from Hungary is able to win about 20-25% of business, through the internet.  He shows people on line all the different cars he has to offer and they choose what they want.” (Friedman)

Thomas also reports in his article of how Andy Astor, chief executive of Open-Source database called PostgreSQL uses the internet to build his business and also conducts business meetings.   “His primary development team, consist of 60 Pakistani engineers in Islamabad, who interact with the New Jersey headquarters via Internet based videoconferencing.  These videoconference meetings, he said are treated as if they are all in the same room.” (Friedman)

Certainly, the use of internet is growing and cutting across all sphere of life; private, social, education, and business.  The advantages the internet offers induce more people to patronize it.   It is helping people to find new ways of doing things in an easy style with no cost or very little cost.  Through the internet geographical and physical barriers as well as mobility are rendered insignificant since transactions and activities could still go on with the internet.  Above all, I learned that there is an emergence of collaborative innovations in human activities that were simply unimaginable a few years ago, and there is optimism that there would be global growth economically because of the impact of today’s internet technology and the reality of the meaning of a global village is being made practical through the usage of the internet.

Works Cited

 Friedman, Thomas L. "Outsourcing, Schmoutsourcing! Out Is Over." New York Times (19 May 2006): 25.  Academic Search Premier. EBSCO.  Quinsigamond Community College, Worcester, MA. 23 June 2009

The author suggests that the impact of web sites on today’s business is translating into business growth and through the internet new business models are springing up and clearly expanding the global economy in ways that are not visible to the naked eye, with the emergency of collaborative business models that were simply unimaginable a decade ago.

Fox, Susanna. "Digital Divisions." 10 Oct. 2005. The Pew Internet and American Life Project. <http://www.pewinternet.org/Reports/2005/Digital-Divisions.aspx June 23 2009,

This document implies that as of May-June 2005 68% of American adults, or about 137 million people, use the internet, up from 63% one year ago.  It also reveals that certain groups continue to lag in their internet adoption, including Americans age 65 and older, African American and those with less education.  These constraints make “32% of American adults or 65 million people do not use the internet and it is not always by choice.

Toppo, Greg. "Offshore learning online." USA Today (n.d.). Academic Search Premier. EBSCO. Quinsigamond Community College, Worcester, MA. 23 June 2009.

The article portrays the benefits of offshore outsourcing with emphasize on online learning and teaching.  It shows how outsourcing is helping people find solutions to their challenges and or problems irrespective of geographical boundaries.   However, the difficulty in getting teacher certification is forcing the pilot programs to dismantle. 

Tucker, Patrick. "A New Ruler for the Digital Divide." Futurist 41.2 (Mar. 2007): 16-16. Academic Search Premier. EBSCO. Quinsigamond Community College, Worcester, MA. 22 June 2009.

The report reveals internet usage growth of 230% globally between 2000 and 2006. In addition Barzilai-Nahon suggests new methods of assessing and knowing Internet literacy, since computer availability does not necessary mean internet accessibility because only 37% of students from families with incomes below $20,000 are able to use a computer with internet at home.   

Yeager, Laura. "Why I love the Internet." Writer 122.6 (June 2009): 13-13. Academic Search Premier. EBSCO. Quinsigamond Community College, Worcester, MA. 23 June 2009

The author reveals ways internet users can do certain things online for free and provides links to numerous useful Internet services.  Among them are Gotham Writers' Workshop, online writing classes, and the FreelanceWriting.com guideline database.  As a writer, Laura admits the Internet is invaluable to her and wants others to also benefit.