三分之一美国家庭怕交网费拒绝上网
Park Associates, a Dallas-based technology market research firm, said 29 percent of U.S. households, or 31 million homes, do not have Internet access and do not intend to subscribe to an Internet service over the next 12 months.
The second annual National Technology Scan conducted by Park found the main reason potential customers say they do not subscribe to the Internet is because of the low value to their daily lives they perceive rather than concerns over cost. Forty-four percent of these households say they are not interested in anything on the Internet, versus just 22 percent who say they cannot afford a computer or the cost of Internet service, the survey showed. The answer "I'm not sure how to use the Internet" came from 17 percent of participants who do not subscribe. The response "I do all my e-commerce shopping and YouTube-watching at work" was cited by 14 percent of Internet-access refuseniks. Three percent said the Internet doesn't reach their homes.
The study found U.S. broadband adoption grew to 52 percent over 2006, up from 42 percent in 2005. Roughly half of new subscribers converted from slower-speed, dial-up Internet access while the other half of households had no prior access. "The industry continues to chip away at the core of nonsubscribers, but has a ways to go," said John Barrett, director of research at Parks Associates. "Entertainment applications will be the key. If anything will pull in the holdouts, it's going to be applications that make the Internet more akin to pay TV," he predicted.
美国一家市场调查公司于3月26日公布的调查结果显示，目前，有将近三分之一的美国家庭不具备上网条件，同时他们在今后一年时间内也不打算改变现状，而在这其中又有相当一部分人认为互联网在自己的生活里其实无甚用处。
据路透社3月26日报道，负责调查的得克萨斯州达拉斯市的帕克斯联合公司指出，29％的美国家庭（3100万户）目前无法接入互联网，而且他们在未来12个月里也不想花钱购买互联网服务。
从具体调查结果来看，不愿上网的人主要不愿为上网付钱，而他们认为上网带给自己日常生活的好处并不多。调查的结果还显示，在那些不上网的人中，声称自己对网上的任何内容均不感兴趣者所占的比例为44％，而仅有22％的人表示自己连一台电脑也买不起或是无力支付上网费用。另有17％的人是因为“我对应当如何使用互联网这件事还搞不太懂”，而告诉调查人员“我在上班时间就可以在线购物以及观看网站视频内容”的人所占比例为14％，另外还有3％的人则表示其住宅所在地区无法安装互联网。
帕克斯联合公司的研究部门主管约翰巴雷特表示：“互联网产业目前还在继续试图说服那些不上网者改变想法，但看来要走的路还很远。而娱乐类软件将会使这一问题变得迎刃而解。只有通过使用相关软件让网络看上去更像是付费电视，这样才能令那些不上网者回心转意。”
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