Google Fiber is arriving in the area, but even the provider of the nation’s fastest Internet has some selling to do.
Fifteen percent of people 18 and older still do not use the Internet in the United States, a recent study reported.
The study by the PEW Research Center found that of those who did not use it, about a third said they are just not interested.
About another third of them said it was too difficult: they were physically unable to use it or they were worried about spam, spyware and hackers.
Nineteen percent cited the expense of owning a computer and paying for a connection, and 7 percent said access to it was not possible where they were.
How the 85 percent who use the Internet do so varied widely. Of those, 76 percent said they use it at home but 9 percent said they do not have home access.
Those without home access cited issues often related to expense, such as not having a computer or having cheaper access outside of home.
The findings come from telephone interviews – both land line and cell phones – done from April 17 to May 19, 2013.
A recent study in Kansas City, done with land line interviews, found that 17 percent of city residents do not use the Internet at all and 25 percent of them do not have it at home.
Kansas City business and civic leaders have established a $1 million Digital Inclusion Fund to provide grants to non-profits seeking to lesson the digital divide.
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