The Net, The People, The Students

Computer Life column for March 7, 1998 by
Richard Gordon

My third-grade son makes up web addresses as part of his regular play: his stuffed animals sometimes end up with imaginary names and addresses that include a lot of www's and .com's.
I have conversations about the Internet with many of my neighbors; however, fewer than half of them have Net access at home or at work.
Even though a minority of us use the Internet, it is now a large part of our culture and economy.
Network Wizards, an organization that has been doing statistical studies of the Internet for over a decade, admits that "it is not possible to determine the exact size of the Internet, where hosts are located, or how many users there are."
What they can estimate is the number of computers connected to the Internet. According to their January 1998 Internet Domain Survey, world-wide there are about 29.7 million systems connected to the Net (www.nw.com). With that many computers, a lot of people must be on line.
Last March, the national press reported the results of Nielsen Media's Internet use survey, in which they said 50.6 million adults around the world use the Internet.
In October, Wirthlin Worldwide said that about 42 million US adults use the Internet, of whom 27 million are "consistent users" (quoted at www.imagenationinc.com).
In November, Georgia Tech's 8th Internet use study found "more than 36 million people on the Internet in the U.S." (www.gvu.gatech.edu/user_surveys/).
The population clock at the US Bureau of the Census (www.census.gov) estimates the population of the United States is currently over 269 million. So, even if we guess that 45 million Americans now use the 'Net, that's only about 17% of the population--but us on-line folks pack an economic wallop.
I tried an unscientific experiment. I grabbed two recent issues of Sports Illustrated and two recent issues of Newsweek and examined every ad in all four issues. Overall, 92 of 141 advertisements, or about 65%, included a Web address: 84% of the ads in Newsweek and 47% of the ads in Sports Illustrated.
It doesn't take a sociologist to see that advertisers have discovered a relationship between Internet use and having the disposable income to buy a product. These numbers also raise questions for me about the economic well-being of the off-line majority.

Just say yes

On Tuesday March 10, there's a bond issue referendum in the Red Clay School District. One of the three items voters are being asked to approve is funding for several major technology initiatives.
Even if you have no children, your children are grown, or your children are in parochial or private schools, it makes sense to vote for the technology bond issue. The more exposure students and teachers have to information technology--the more they learn how it can help them find information, communicate with each other, prepare information, perform research, learn more flexibly--the better prepared graduates of the district will be for entering the work force or furthering their education.
When you vote for the referendum, you give teachers and students the ability to learn how to use current and future technology. If you vote against it, you remove that opportunity and risk widening the gap between society's "info-haves" and "info-have-nots."
Just look at the ads in your favorite mass market magazine. That 84% of the ads in Newsweek are pitched at an Internet-literate audience is a symptom of the environment into which students will graduate. Without having used the technological tools now available, without experience using the 'Net, a school district's graduates will be at a distinct disadvantage.
Personally, as a resident of the district, I plan to vote for all three parts of the referendum. I'd also urge residents of other school districts to consider voting for similar bond issues in your districts.

Two parts of the referendum were approved on March 10: the technology initiatives and a building renovations proposal. A proposal to fund new construction was defeated.

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Richard Gordon helps support faculty, staff and student computing at the University of Delaware. E-mail questions, comments or suggestions to richard@inet.net, or write him at The News Journal, Box 15505, Wilmington, DE 19850. Although each note cannot be answered individually, reader comments and questions will often be incorporated in future columns.