1/3 of UK homes still in the dark ages
As broadband is marching on into the future it was announced yesterday that a third of homes in the UK still do not have access to the internet! According to ONS’s 2008 Internet Access report 65% of all homes have no internet access what so ever. This is an increase of 1.23 million households in 2007. At a time where the web design industry is going through the roof it is hard to actually believe that some homes still dont want/need an internet connection.
A creative design agency in London added to the debate on the site topic by saying that the reason people still dont have an internet connection is because some of the products are far too expensive and un-accessible for lower class families. However, the computer in general are pushing to make comupters more affordable. The prices for bog standard personal computer are dropping as low as £150.The South East of England are the most connected region in UK to be connected to the internet, swiftly followed by London. Northern parts of the UK are falling below average by only having 54% of homes connected. There is no doubt in my mind that the divide between the North and South is getting bigger. The percentage gap between houses in South and North who were connected to the net was 12% in 2006. Now it has grown rapidly to 20% in just two years.
Personally I think that it is difficult for poor familie s to afford luxury items such as computers. But with the current advancement of technology it is enabling manufactures to produce PC’s for cheaper which will ultimately drop the retail price. Thus making it easier for people to purchase.