Don Day starts his day by reading the newspaper and maybe placing a land-line phone call to a friend or two. If he wants to socialize, 85-year-old Day heads down to the Upper Arlington Senior Center for some face time with his friends there.
The Internet has become such a part of Rice's existence that the Reynoldsburg teen can't imagine his life without it. But for Day, whose life has been computer-free, the Internet effectively doesn't exist.
As the Internet, which turns 40 today, continues to grow in popularity and use, a small pocket of adult Americans, 14 percent, still don't go online, don't have cellphones and have no desire to do so.
Age is one predictor of being in that pocket, said Susannah Fox, associate director for the Pew Internet & American Life Project. "Many (older adults) probably didn't use computers when they were working, and their social and community life is dominated by off-line resources."
But they represent a shrinking part of the population.
Nearly two-thirds of all U.S. homes are now broadband users, and mobile phones have become an equalizer of sorts for more consumers of all ages, according to the Pew center. Sixty-three percent of adult Americans had broadband in their homes as of April 2009, an increase from 55 percent in May 2008.
And the older generation is part of that shift. Broadband use among adults 65 or older grew from 19 percent in May 2008 to 30 percent in April 2009. And Internet use among adults 50-64 increased from 50 percent in 2008 to 61 percent in 2009, the Pew center said.
The age difference in Internet usage can be explained often as simply a force of habit, said Vicky Getis, director of Ohio State University's Digital Union. The center works to increase the use of emerging technology throughout the university.
"For younger users, they've always had the Internet, and society is increasingly becoming atomized where they're less likely to talk on the phone or gather information face to face," she said. "Picking up the phone and saying 'Let's go to lunch' is almost foreign to them."
Older adults, on the other hand, are used to picking up printed materials to find out the latest information, and are not as likely to go to weather.com for the forecast, Getis said.
"There's just a natural age difference," she said. "But that's not to say that there aren't older users who aren't just as excited as younger users to find the latest new thing."
The challenge for businesses and institutions, which are putting more information and services online, is how to bridge that digital divide and reach those unwilling or unable to tap the Internet, Getis said.
"For whatever reason, there are people out there who don't want to adopt these new technologies," she said. "Everyone has valid reasons for being wherever they are on that learning curve."
In Getis' view, businesses and institutions shouldn't dictate that their services or products be used online, but they can provide incentives to get more people to learn and use the technology.
That's significant considering that with the majority of American adults online, many resources are moving online as well, said Fox, the Pew official. Already, some companies no longer accept paper job applications or resumes, preferring to do all job recruiting online.
And some retailers now offer their products for sale only online.
"However, older adults who are satisfied with the way they get information and are able to stay in touch with family and friends through other sources -- it's OK for them not to go online," Fox said. "But it's probably a good idea for them to know someone who can go online for them when needed."
That's what Day does.
Whenever he needs information that can be found only on the Internet, he has his son or grandchildren look it up for him. That happened recently, when he found out that he'd have to order his beloved OSU football tickets online.
"I assume this is the way that the world is going, but I'm very happy with my life without the computer," Day said. "I don't miss it, and I don't want it.
"I don't even know what Google is."
Rice, on the other hand, who sends more than 200 e-mails, texts and instant messages every day, said he can't go a day without the Internet.
"It'd be a real problem," the teen said. "I'd lose contact with my family, my friends, and I wouldn't know what was going on.
"Even my little sister spends all day online watching videos and listening to music. We've grown up with it; we understand it and we don't want to be without it."
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