[LINK] Affordable Internet in Australia for low-income families ? Never happen...

[Tom Koltai]

> -----Original Message-----
> From: Fernando Cassia [mailto:fcassia at gmail.com] 
> Sent: Sunday, 14 August 2011 10:09 AM
> To: Tom Koltai
> Cc: Link list
> Subject: Re: [LINK] Affordable Internet in Australia for 
> low-income families ? Never happen...
> 
> 
> On Mon, Aug 8, 2011 at 17:37, Tom Koltai <tomk at unwired.com.au> wrote:
> > 29% of  Australians are not connected to the Internet.
> 
> Besides the mention of children, I don't see the age angle 
> considered here.
> 
> I mean, how many over 70 (or even 65) -not us techies but the
> non-techies- actually consider the internet a 'need'?
> 
> How many Australians -percentage of the population- are over 65?
> 
> I see today's people under 25 can't seem to live without 
> earbuds and an mp3 player hanging from their neck. I can live 
> just fine without constant music, specially while walking on 
> the street. I play music when I reach home, thanks very much. ;)
> 
> Just saying...
> FC
> 

Actually Fernando, the annual Whirlpool statistics would suggest that
the trend is altering...

Here is a blog article I wrote a couple of years ago [Feb '09] that
suggest grandparents are now torrenting...

In Oz, everyone over 25 must be file sharing
http://www.p2pnet.net/story/18596 

Quote/
Growth is strongest in the over fifties group, whilst 18-to 21'ers are
either
losing interest due to more connection options on mobile phones or
becoming information
overloaded.
/Quote

Anecdotally, I have several friends and acquaintances over 65. Most of
whom use the internet for email and news articles. One for example used
to be the editor of a large national newspaper. Another used to run one
of the bigger music companies. Yet another was the MD of a large
construction firm.
In fact I think it's the over sixties that are the most important
element of internet connectivity as we move forwards to an over fifties
world populated by people that just cant read those little screens on
the phones. However, it is those self same people that are now spending
20-30 $'s per month on presents for their grandchildren.

Therefore apart from the immigrants that refuse to learn how to type, I
disagree with the naysayers about older segments of our population.
Whilst some can not see the benefits of being connected. Others see the
Net as a way to continue being in touch with their grandchildren. For
example, my father who refused to get a PC for home until he learnt that
I was IM'ing and emailing his two grand-daughters in the USA on a
regular basis. Suddenly, - a PC was acquired almost overnight. (He was
75 when he acquired the PC; I had been extolling the virtues of Personal
computers and the net since 1986 when he visited me in Darwin. I was
unable to convince him of the value of bits and bytes, however his
progeny's offspring managed to convince him in half a heart beat.)    

Therefore, if we accept that everyone has a reason eventually to
connect, we must eliminate the barriers... The Comcast mandate from the
FCC in the USA has managed to reduce the barriers (by reducing the
costs) :

A) the Cost of PC's
B) the cost of the monthly access fees.

Australia would do well to emulate that initiative, both in the country
and the city.
If the price is still too high, then the government should give free
PC's and access to those who are unable to still afford it.

After all, a connected community is a happy community.

TomK