Most dial-up users don't want to upgrade their connections
So here's a bit of brilliant statistics work for you: The Pew Internet & American Life research project has determined after endless polling and number crunching that 62 percent of American dial-up users have no interest in upgrading their connections to something a bit more peppy. In fact, only 14 percent of them would upgrade if they could. They cite high prices, barrier to entry, and -- ooh, is Survivor on? We look at it this way: if you're not already on broadband with the multitude of options, and you can get broadband (i.e. you're not stranded out in the wilderness) in one way shape or form, you probably just don't really care, and we can make fun of you because you're not reading this post anyway.[Via Switched]
Filed under: Networking
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 3)
Mr. Fax Sender @ Jul 4th 2008 5:46PM
Not surprising, really.
Nightmare @ Jul 4th 2008 8:20PM
Where i come from it only cost ten dollars more to have mid-grade 780-1000kbps from dial-up, but then again ten dollars will almost get you a couple gallons of gas. lol
mabhatter @ Jul 6th 2008 10:09PM
most homes would benefit from ISDN, solid 128KB and be just fine. In real world use that's like 4x dial-up because lines are so bad. Most pages are geared for this crowd. it's fact enough to browse quickly, even download a CD work of info in a reasonable time, but not enough for those bandwidth hogging things like downloading DVDS, etc. Telcos could make a killing if they'd have done this years ago rather than the "unlimited" DSL they're loosing their asses on.
John @ Jul 19th 2008 9:58PM
Im 15 and ive had dialup since forever, sure its ok for loading webpages and e-mail, but if i want watch a funny youtube video i have to wait hrs for it too load, so hope its upgraded soon cuz i dont howmuch longer i can dela with dial-up since its 2008 now
digitallysick @ Jul 4th 2008 5:56PM
poor dial up users , it sucked in the 90s I can't imagine trying to use it now. Their is a price difference from dialup to broadband , not worth it for some users. But for me I've been despeate since the 90s I even had dual dialup and thought about isdn back in the day. Cable is plenty fast for me, 10 legs down 1 up no complaints at the moment
Bunson @ Jul 4th 2008 6:07PM
10 legs?
l2type ftw!
digitallysick @ Jul 4th 2008 8:55PM
sorry tried to type megs but i was on the iphone and it insists on spelling everything the opposite of what i want
Wwhat @ Jul 4th 2008 9:08PM
olol, iphone created a new term for broadbandspeed, legs, it's catchy.
Reader @ Jul 5th 2008 7:35AM
Whenever I try to type summer it comes out as stoner instead...
w00t @ Jul 4th 2008 5:57PM
Seriously, last time I used dial-up I was shocked to find most sites were practically unusable because they were designed with a reasonable amount of bandwidth in mind.
56k is just not enough for todays internet!
w00t @ Jul 4th 2008 5:59PM
Forgot to add, bandwidth capped broadband is the same price as dial-up here now, and since if they don't use a lot of bandwidth anyway it can't hurt to upgrade. The only possible reason I can see for someone to still be on it is they can't get broadband! Anything else is lunacy!
grull27 @ Jul 4th 2008 6:01PM
My dad upgraded to DSL a week ago. It's a good thing I only have to go to his house every other weekend. :D
greggo @ Jul 4th 2008 6:03PM
Man, i had to force my grandma into getting high speed... lol her AOL was killin me whenever I'd come to fix it
Kris @ Jul 4th 2008 6:35PM
So you forced your grandmother to pay for something more expensive that she does not need so it's easier for you? Wow, you're a real piece of work. Why not have her go with a better dial-up prodiver instead?
a self called nowhere @ Jul 4th 2008 7:42PM
that's pretty hilarious because my grandmother is actually still on dial-up aol and doesn't seem to want to do anything about it despite my entire family trying to convince her to change
Chuckles McGee @ Jul 4th 2008 8:51PM
Christ, I had a similar conversation with my grandmother the other month. Questions like "Why do you need it that fast?" just left me flabbergasted.
Scott @ Jul 5th 2008 2:43AM
You all don't want her to blow through your inheritance, now do ya? ;)
Mike918 @ Jul 6th 2008 1:57AM
Don't worry, when you get old and your sons or grandchildren come to you telling you to upgrade to another thing..you are gonna be stubborn and say that you are not abandoning your adsl..or cable..or whatever you are using now.
milton359 @ Jul 4th 2008 6:05PM
I can't live without my 6 megs, but on the otherhand my girlfriend who pretty much just uses the PC as an "email machine" would be fine with dial up.
Kinda depends on what you use the net for I guess.
r3loaded @ Jul 4th 2008 7:11PM
Free wifi usually does the trick if your internet use is very light. And quicker, and you get out of the house too.
ddub @ Jul 4th 2008 6:09PM
If you have more than one computer in the house it doesn't make any sense to have dial-up. I guess that's one reason I haven't had it for several years.
Bunson @ Jul 4th 2008 6:09PM
Where did my comment go?
Comment delay? Fourth dimension? Or Engadget glitching?
Oh well. Who cares?
DefPo3t @ Jul 4th 2008 6:41PM
well by looking at your avatar i say it got sucked down a worm hole : D
zachb @ Jul 4th 2008 6:19PM
I agree, not surprising at all. I wonder if dial-up is as awful as it was 10 years ago? I can't imagine AOL still has busy-signal problems...
naz @ Jul 4th 2008 6:19PM
I've gotta upgrade my Internet speed. iPlayer is getting pwned by my crap 2mb narrowband.
Eothein @ Jul 4th 2008 6:20PM
The speeds in dial up I never found to be the issue it's the inability to multitask that makes it inferior to broadband in my eyes. For instance I have a Youtube video playing, 3 Endgadget pages, Steam and MSN open at the moment which I couldn't do with dial up.
*hugs router*
modified @ Jul 4th 2008 6:21PM
Most dial up users have stolen cable and don't want that to go away.
Khris @ Jul 4th 2008 6:42PM
Oh please, what a completely stupid thing to say!
Think BEFORE typing next time!
Khris @ Jul 4th 2008 6:22PM
What's........wrong.........with.........the...........speed..........of..........dial..........up?
I..........mean..........who.........could........ever.........need.........to......
.....download.........something.........so........fast?
Neil @ Jul 4th 2008 6:26PM
I'd rather do without net than have to go back to dialup....and that's a fact!!!
tanya @ Jul 4th 2008 9:41PM
I agree completey. Not worth the effort. Especially after being spoiled on a T3 connection back in college!!!
HighTeckRedNeck @ Jul 4th 2008 6:29PM
I still have dial-up at home. I live in the country and commute in (I work IT for John Deere).
You all are used to the city. Get out into the country, and where there aren't lines you'd have to pay to have them put in. So, I *could* get broadband or cable, but the installation fees would be in the thousands.
Someday I'm sure I will ... but ... 'til then ... adblock speeds things up a lot.
Khris @ Jul 4th 2008 6:41PM
A real "High Tech" Red Neck would have broadband!
FAIL!
Bunson @ Jul 4th 2008 6:51PM
56k is very high tech for rednecks, most of them don't even know what the internet is.
deyanimay @ Jul 4th 2008 7:04PM
Do you get 3g service in your area, maybe you should get a 3g smartphone and tether it to your computer. Just a thought.
David @ Jul 4th 2008 7:20PM
Or even a 3g broadband card..
Nightmare @ Jul 4th 2008 8:26PM
Satalite internet bro... i'm with you on the being caught in the stix i aint had internet ever in my life, less i used a friends.
Backwards People @ Jul 4th 2008 6:38PM
This misguided poll never asked if users had no reason to upgrade, and no benefit over their dial-up.
Because seriously, why would Grandma need broadband to check her e-mail?
Based on this glaring omission, it's nice to see them jump to conclusions, somehow trying to understand.
Warner Young @ Jul 4th 2008 7:03PM
Grandma might need broadband to check her email if all her friends have broadband, and keep insisting on sending 5 to 10MB attachments. When you're grandma's age, you're not going to go ditching your friends just cause they forget you have dialup and keep sending emails too huge to download. After a while, it's easier to get broadband so you can actually read those emails.
Also, grandma might not realize how nice broadband can be if she's never tried it.
deyanimay @ Jul 4th 2008 7:05PM
Maybe she doesn't want to sit at the computer for five hours to view a couple pictures of her grandchildren that were e-mailed to her.
monkoosbob0 @ Jul 4th 2008 6:42PM
the price difference where i live from dial-up to basic DSL is $5 a month, not usually enough to make some one file for bankrupcy
Nightmare @ Jul 4th 2008 8:30PM
Here here!
Josh @ Jul 4th 2008 6:50PM
See what engadget should have done was upload this article in full HD video, or as a series of uncompressed, 10MP JPEG files.
Bunson @ Jul 4th 2008 6:52PM
hahahahaaha.
+1
AwlAmericanDawg @ Jul 6th 2008 12:29PM
So my grandma would wait 'till she's dead to view all of that?
Lol I would bring my 10 megs download, 1 megs upload internet over there and save her a few months or maybe years of her life.
thedesolate1 @ Jul 4th 2008 6:51PM
Dial up? PFFFT N00BS
Matt @ Jul 4th 2008 7:00PM
I still can not get broad band. My city just of FIOS over a year ago. Just done the street they have a Comcast High Speed But my street is no for any service. The only reason I don't have acess to high speed is the phone company and cable company are too cheep to run a line down my street. You can all stop bashing on dial up user some of use don't have a choice and wished we did.
Alex @ Jul 4th 2008 7:03PM
Call and tell them they suck.
Then maybe you might have a chance of getting high speed.
Dan @ Jul 5th 2008 3:58PM
Actually, every dial-up user has a choice. You might want to look into satellite internet; it's not FAST, per-se (about 500k last time I checked?), but it sure beats the sh1t out of dial up.
ben @ Jul 5th 2008 7:55PM
Have you SEEN the cost of satellite? It is CRAZY!