Broadband News
One in four adults still a ‘timid technophobe’
Monday, 12 October 2009
Garnet Roach garnet@consumerchoices.co.uk
Nearly a quarter of adults are still uncomfortable using technology, according to new research.
The study by TalkTalk Broadband (www.TalkTalk.co.uk), found that there were six “digital tribes” across Britain, ranging from “Digital Extroverts” who embrace technology to “Timid Technophobes” who are able to send emails and will use the internet if they have to, but prefer to use telephones or pen and paper.
Tristia Clarke, TalkTalk’s commercial director, said: “Digital technology is now such an important part of our lives that it is often difficult to imagine what life was like without it, even though that’s just 10 or 15 years ago.”
TalkTalk interviewed more than 2,000 people around the UK, with social anthropologist from Kent University helping to analyse attitudes to technology.
The survey found that “our willingness to embrace digital technology and use it effectively will be more important in developing a person’s career than their family background or what school or university they went to,” predicting that social networking would transfer social class by 2020.
Professor David Zeitlyn from the University of Kent said: “Traditional class structures are changing fast and, based on how things are changing right now, it seems likely that your openness to new technology and willingness to embrace it will soon become more important in dictating your life chances than, say, your schooling or your parents’ economic status.
“But while this digital elite will emerge and thrive, it’s worrying that nearly a quarter of people are still scared by technology. This digital divide isn’t simply about access to technology - it’s about attitudes and behaviour. This could be the class divide of the future.”
Michael Phillips, Broadbandchoices.co.uk product director, added: “According to Ofcom, some 15 million adults in the UK do not have the internet at home - with 30 per cent of these people saying that they cannot afford a home broadband connection and many saying that they simply don’t want it.
“The Government needs to do more to help and encourage these people to get online, so that they can benefit from the social, educational and money saving advantages that the internet offers.”
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