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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

#251

Post by daemin »

Bromskloss wrote: post #241
dev_north_east wrote: post #227

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> - 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/s…

Right! Workplaces seem to advertise to, for example, computer people how they are relaxed and that you can come to work in jeans. I just want to get to wear a suit for once, for the enjoyment of myself and others!

We had Classy (Client* Team) Mondays at a previous job of mine. The whole larger group would come in dressed up in suits and business appropriate dresses, then have some nibbles and drinks afterwards.

Pretty much a reverse of a casual Friday.

* Client in the client-server computing sense.

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

#252

Post by picsao »

Rjevski wrote: post #94
DavidAdams wrote: post #59

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This is just one of many reasons why public libraries are so important. It's a major part of the mandate for modern libraries and librarians to offer a place where people with low incomes, low educational attainment, low tech literacy, and even plain old low literacy can get some help navigating occasional requirements like an online job application or trying to enroll in some kind of assistance program.

More than libraries, I wish there would be really affordable computers. We’ve already proven it’s technically possible, with Raspberry Pis and cheap Android phones. Now I wish we would stop cramming bloat and shit (like useless JavaScript and ads) into our websites and operating systems so those low-end machines actually remain usable and productive. Internet access should also be a right - not high speed 100+Mbps, b…

If the world could opt out of bloat.. the ad industry would be gone.

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

#253

Post by jackvalentine »

peterburkimsher wrote: post #216
brazzledazzle wrote: post #205

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I think functionality illiterate people can still use smart phones. Certainly not to their full capabilities though.

I think they rely on smartphones, especially for basic maths or asking others for help. I'm disappointed that countries set such a high barrier to entry for immigrants (TOEFL level 6.5-7) when local people probably can't even achieve the same.

> I'm disappointed that countries set such a high barrier to entry for immigrants (TOEFL level 6.5-7) when local people probably can't even achieve the same.

Shrug, seems harsh but the local people have a somewhat arbitrary birthright to be there and these countries can afford to pick and choose who they admit.

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

#254

Post by squarefoot »

ggregoire wrote: post #193
tpfour wrote: post #108

Earlier quoted context omitted.

For your interest: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Functional_illiteracy

Half of the Italian population is functionally illiterate? What?

Probably more than half. Having access to the Internet means nothing if all one can or wants to do is digesting social media nonsense on a phone: it doesn't improve at all his/her culture while still makes the user subject to manipulation. I have some chemtrails believers among my friends. They're wonderful people in other contexts, but they tend to believe just about every conspiracy theory they're fed through that human stupidity collector called Facebook, and their vote counts as 1 just like mine. I remember them before the social media era, and they were better persons; one of them was (albeit mildly) interested in programming, now he trains weekly at the range because "we're being invaded by immigrants, you have to be prepared". Nope, that ain't Texas, it's Italy.

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

#255

Post by SamUK96 »

Bromskloss wrote: post #248
bernardino wrote: post #130

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,…

This sounds like thinking I've heard from some Amish people.

I sometimes think if the barbarians of the 4th and 5th Century are like today's people who adopt Amish principles, and the rest of the population as 4th and 5th Century Romans. There are extremely identifiable markers.

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

#256

Post by SamUK96 »

jonstaab wrote: post #129
SamUK96 wrote: post #41

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Even as a ~20-30 year old, libraries and them acting as community "hubs" seems so foreign already. Part of me worries about the growing individualist and transactional nature of our social lives that the internet is causing [citation needed, I know]. Part of me thinks that the easy way now where we can do IRS forms (and everything) online and to our door of our houses, will make us weak. There is some old Roman bit a…

The quote is from Herodotus Book 9 Chapter 122, "Soft lands breed soft men", by Cyrus the Persian. Reference: http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus:text:19...

Oh wow thank you! I have wondered for years where it has come from. I love the following sentence: "...wondrous fruits of the earth and valiant warriors grow not from the same soil.".

This all is reminding me of another saying, a spartan one. A Spartan woman was asked why they do not submit to their men, and she replied with "strong men are not born from weak women".

If anyone is liking these forms of phrases (short, insightful), there is a word just for it: Laconic [1].

[1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Laconic_phrase

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

#257

Post by carlmr »

peterburkimsher wrote: post #216
brazzledazzle wrote: post #205

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I think functionality illiterate people can still use smart phones. Certainly not to their full capabilities though.

I think they rely on smartphones, especially for basic maths or asking others for help. I'm disappointed that countries set such a high barrier to entry for immigrants (TOEFL level 6.5-7) when local people probably can't even achieve the same.

Especially with the link to crime, why would you ever want illiterate or functionally illiterate immigrants?

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

#258

Post by carlmr »

dev_north_east wrote: post #227
reaperducer wrote: post #137

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…

> - 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/s…

I'd do the same if they invested in proper AC (Germany wide issue). But for now, shorts it is until summer is over.

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

#260

Post by Dowwie »

I just got back from a camping trip in the White mountains region of New Hampshire. Neighboring cities strike me as those where high tech lifestyles aren't needed nor preferred. Locals congregate in the early morning where breakfasts are served. No one looks at a phone once. People seem to enjoy the company of those in reality over those of their online social network.

I see why this lifestyle is alluring.

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