Broadband Majority in US

TheSync writes "NetworkWorldFusion has a report that the majority of US Internet users now connect using broadband, according to NetRatings. There are 63 million broadband users (51%) and 61 million (49%) dial-up users in the US. Broadband was most prevalent among people ages 18 to 20."

Re:Spyware?

[Papineau]

It works the same as Nielsen ratings for TV. A few years ago select viewers were asked to pen down what they were watching every 15 minutes. Now it's a device directly connected to the cable box/TV.

Of course, you have to agree to have one.

Re:How?

[PhilipPeake]

Because in HUGE areas of the country there is no alternative other than slow, clunky, high-latency, expensive satellite connections.

I have broadband only because I have the knowlege to set up a 1 mile 802.11b point to point link to someone willing to let me put DSL on their phone-line.

Before that, I lived with a 56k full-time dial-up connection for many years.

Price.

[LighthouseJ]

As someone moving from home (dialup) and to school (broadband), the answer is price. My parents get dialup for something like $14 a month, whereas 3Mbps cable internet is a shade under $60. People that get dialup don't get it for it's speed, they get it for the price. My parents don't use the internet at home so they don't know the aggrevation of trying to download a 266MB Windows XP SP2 update over modem.

Re:Spyware?

[stratjakt]

Nielsen chose us once, they offer some cool stuff in return for letting them monitor. I think you could get a DVD player or a new TV, etc..

They wanted a box connected to every device capable of TV reception. I didn't have a problem with them putting them on the TVs or VCRs, but when I found out it included the TV tuner in the Voodoo 3 3500 I had at the time, I told them no. I draw the line right around fucking with my PC, even if it's a completely external device.

But others probably wouldn't care. Hell, if all you do is read e-mail and do a little online browsing, it wouldn't be a big deal, expecially if you got something cool in return.

Dorm

[Ann Coulter]

Most Internet users between the ages of 18-20 are college students. It is also Dorm Storm month so the figures will definitely show a bias toward broadband use.

What kind of price/bandwidth ratio do you have?

[bludstone]

This would make a great slashdot poll.

I pay 35$~ish and normally I can pull down about 150Kbps, but ive hit 200 before. I felt a little jipped at first, but its been remarkably reliable, and it seems my isp actually cares about security.

SBC

[halo1982]

SBC is now offering 1.5Mbps/128kbps for $26.95 a month. Thats two dollars more a month than AOL dialup and $5 more a month than SBC's dialup. It also comes with a free modem and home installation kit with a one year contract. That was enough to get me to switch over my parents (finally), and the last time I went home half the people in the neighborhood who didn't have DSL and some who had cable have moved over to SBC's offering. Apparently they also offer a 3.0Mbps/384kbps for $36.99 too...if I had a landline I'd probably drop my cable for that.

Re:Problem in the survey method

[stratjakt]

What the article doesn't say, is that busy signals are retried until someone answers.

Ie; they generate a big list of numbers, then work through that list. They don't get a busy signal and just cross it off the list automatically.

It could just as well that you have broadband, and your TiVo's just phoning home to sell you out.

Re:This is Likely Not Very Accurate

[Politburo]

I wonder if any of the participants reside in places like Alaska, or South Dakota. Just seems like those places amongst many aren't likely to have vast options on their method of connecting to the net.

There's something else about those places too... oh, right! No one lives there! Okay, sure, people do, but the population density is vastly lower than other parts of the country. So even if everyone uses dialup in these areas, they will only have a small effect on the overall numbers.

Mirror

[Anonymous Coward]

Site is getting sloooow... Here's a mirror [tinyurl.com].

Re:Spyware?

[FooAtWFU]

Yeah, our family was selected for one of those a short while ago. I think we logged in one show during the two weeks or so we had it... :)

Re:Price.

[justforaday]

My parents get dialup for something like $14 a month, whereas 3Mbps cable internet is a shade under $60.

Are you also factoring the 20 bucks or so a month for the extra phoneline, or do your folks not mind you tying up the line 24/7? Yeah, I know it's still cheaper even then, but it does narrow the gap a fair bit...

Re:Fantastic! Goodbye HTML!

[chimpo13]

I tested my personal site on dial-ups and the wait while loading pictures kills me. So, I keep it simple and for every 10 "this page looks like it was made in 1996", I get one "wow, I like that it loads quickly".

I reckon I should "upgrade" it by making it slow loading -- I actually make "real" sites at work. Nice long, bloated with javascript & graphics sites. I've had clients that want text added to go along with rotating stars and the other 7th grade girl lay-out (I apologize to any 7th grade girls reading this -- I'll try not to outsource your work anymore).

I guess it's my fault from sticking with lynx for long. I'm ingrained to make pages fast loading and I like crappy looking sites that load fast.

Re:... In other news: Congratulations!

[RzUpAnmsCwrds]

World? Try South Korea and Canada.

Broadband penetration in Europe hasn't even reached 20%:

http://www.dmeurope.com/default.asp?ArticleID=18 96

Canada's around 65%, and South Korea is 80% or more. Everyone else is lower than the US.

no

[rebelcool]

broadband "user" is an account. Remember, most of these are household accounts being used by multiple people. You're comparing apples to oranges.

Re:... In other news: Congratulations!

[EinarH]

The article you linked to talks about "per cent of all homes" so you can't compare that with "majority of US Internet users" from the first report.