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11% of Americans don’t use the internet

thehustle.co

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Re: 11% of Americans don’t use the internet

#221
Do we need another type of operating system interface to solve this? Something simpler, like TV or Minitel?

It would seem that Apps have helped to bring the last 20% of Americans online, would we need something even simpler to bring the rest onboard?

Re: 11% of Americans don’t use the internet

#222

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The quality of content on TV is way better than YouTube. Thankfully my kids really like the learning series on Netflix (Umizoomi, True etc) instead of the horrible 'daddy finger' to cheap animation of babies which qualifies as 'child content' on YouTube.

The quality of content on TV is way better than YouTube. IF you're talking only about children-specific stuff, then maybe so. But otherwise I totally disagree. There is SO much amazing content on Youtube (especially educational content); where nothing on TV can come close to match it. Pick a subject you want to learn, and there are hours and hours of content, a not insignificant amount from top tier universities, cov…

Yes, I'm talking about content for children; in my case children who cannot read/write. YouTube is a horrible wasteland of mind destroying insanity for that age group. I'm replying to a comment talking about the experience for kids.

I agree about YouTube for adults and older children; there is an amazing amount of top quality content there for people who are capable of searching for it :-)

Re: 11% of Americans don’t use the internet

#223

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I feel like this is the same thing they said about tv, before that radio, before that..

The quality of content on TV is way better than YouTube. Thankfully my kids really like the learning series on Netflix (Umizoomi, True etc) instead of the horrible 'daddy finger' to cheap animation of babies which qualifies as 'child content' on YouTube.

To the downvoter(s): I assume that you don't have young children. If you want to get an idea of how bad it is, search for "baby daddy finger" and then only follow the brightly colored links featuring babies or recognizable cartoon characters. Randomly subscribe to channels you see. Then you get the full < 6-7 year-old experience of YouTube.

Re: 11% of Americans don’t use the internet

#224
post #198

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yep. Italian here, Can confirm.

Can you explain why? And does that manifest on a daily level?

Look at their governments over the pas 25 years, I mean, they may not seem that crazy compared to Trump, but they’ve been, and continue to be, really shitty.

It turns out that uneducated people make really uninformed decisions and as a result, it’s tanked their economy and exploded corruption.

Re: 11% of Americans don’t use the internet

#225

It’s reasonable to assume that 11% of the adult US population is still illiterate [1]. I know this is not unique to the US, and that these people may very well be as happy as anyone else. Still, if we sometimes point out that HN is a bit of a bubble, well there’s a big bubble I can’t wrap my mind around well into the 21st century! I would certainly be surprised if an illiterate person made heavy use of the Internet (…

It’s surprising how well young children use the internet, pre-literacy. My 4-year-old asks Google questions all the time on her laptop, and gets answer most of the time.

I chuckle every time I remember that when my dad used to interview secretaries to hire ~20 yrs ago, he'd always ask "Can you use computer?" which sounds like a quite funny question to ask a 20-something years old person nowadays, let alone kids.

Re: 11% of Americans don’t use the internet

#226

This is a shockingly small number. For comparison, Pew reports that 24% of Americans have not read a single book, in whole or in part, in 2017. http://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2018/03/23/who-doesnt-r...

Media comes in a lot of forms these days. I've definitely read a book in the past year, but - especially if you restrict it to written word (e.g. no visual novels) - there's a good chance that the 3 otherwise reasonably intelligent people I live with haven't done the same. They've listened to audio books, watched movies and tv, played video games, gone to plays, played board games, read both long and short form artic…

I'm pretty sure audiobook counts.

Re: 11% of Americans don’t use the internet

#227
post #53

Earlier quoted context omitted.

What is interesting is that it seems to have more to do with age than intellectual capacity. I know very smart 60yo+ doctors with a lifetime of scientific achievements, who understands concepts way more complicated than the IP protocol or a browser, and who just refuse to learn it. They might learn just how to use it but have no curiosity on how it works.

I know very smart 60yo+ doctors with a lifetime of scientific achievements, who understands concepts way more complicated than the IP protocol or a browser, and who just refuse to learn it. I know a woman who until recently worked as a secretary to one of the presidents of a large regional bank. The first thing she did each morning was to print out the president's e-mails, and bring them to him on paper. He would the…

> - She dressed the part; coming to work in a proper business suit and briefcase each day, not carrying a backpack like a sixth-grader.

This is something I've been thinking more and more about lately. I used to be happy with the lax attitude most tech places have to attire but honestly I look around my office now and I wish we had a bit more of a dress standard. I was a tshirt and hoodie fiend but changed to slacks/smart jeans and a shirt recently. I've been on the end of so many barbs and jokes from coworkers over this (which I take in good humour). Interestingly I've found that I'm being taken more seriously by our management side/CTO etc. I have no interest in moving over there by the way, I'll be coding til I retire.

I'm going to be asked why we should change and what's wrong with the casual approach. I think if as a profession we want to be taken seriously, we need to start looking the part. Sure a lawyer could rock up into court wearing shorts and a faded 1980s Man Utd jersey and still do a good job, but honestly what would you actually think of him? What is actually wrong with looking smart?

Re: 11% of Americans don’t use the internet

#228
post #196

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I know very smart 60yo+ doctors with a lifetime of scientific achievements, who understands concepts way more complicated than the IP protocol or a browser, and who just refuse to learn it. I know a woman who until recently worked as a secretary to one of the presidents of a large regional bank. The first thing she did each morning was to print out the president's e-mails, and bring them to him on paper. He would the…

What’s wrong with having a bookbag? Here in Finland, practically everyone carries one. From young kids to grown adult men and women. I even saw an old person with one the other day. One can’t carry as much nor is it practical to use briefcases.

I'd argue that briefcase's are more practical for that kind of job where it involves a lot of paperwork, as you can lay them flat without worrying about crumbling them.

Re: 11% of Americans don’t use the internet

#229

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You are definitely onto something. I'm going to skew this comment towards something similar. As an early twenty-something, I'm urging more friends and family to stop using the internet loosely - meaning, use the medium as a tool but not as a form of entertainment. Extensively, use it as little as possible. I'm not saying reject the medium but rather try to be acutely aware of how it affects things: perception, mind,…

Is HN a tool or entertainment?

Definitely a tool or at least, mostly a tool - I continue to learn a lot from the site, largely from the comments but also from the links to articles, etc. I suppose it's important to define tool and entertainment. As I see it: A tool is something that helps you grow, create, learn, etc. Entertainment, on the other hand, is something with no intention of helping you, it's only for gratification purposes.

For instance, I think, mindlessly scrolling through reddit.com is a form of entertainment. But if you are subscribed to only certain particular subs in order, for example, to become a better writer, that would be a tool. This is a shaky example though.

Re: 11% of Americans don’t use the internet

#230

This is a shockingly small number. For comparison, Pew reports that 24% of Americans have not read a single book, in whole or in part, in 2017. http://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2018/03/23/who-doesnt-r...

And IMO internet amplifies attention deficit, making it harder to read books unless you're very willing or isolated.
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