[thelist] Percentage of users still on Dialup? (offlist)

[Bruce McIntyre]

You are absolutely correct.  Even in the most affluent portions of the
US, penetration of broad-band is still less than 20%.  That means that
most browsers either do so from work, where they have broad-band access,
or are eternally grateful for 'svelte' websites.

An example of this is the recent heavy promotion by Microsoft of the new
MSN Search engine.... I looked at in once.. didn't even use it then.

The genius of Google is that it does what I want, only what I want, when
I want, and returns what I want.

Until others get off trying to use Search to 'tie' me to their home
page, they won't really substantially affect Google's market share. (And
I do have really good broad-band access here in SE PA.)

--
Bruce A. McIntyre
ISS Group (http://www.issgroup.net)
Shaping Visions into Solutions
bmcintyre at issgroup.net
V: 215.942.4718
F: 215.942.4962

-----Original Message-----
From: thelist-bounces at lists.evolt.org
[mailto:thelist-bounces at lists.evolt.org] On Behalf Of BJ
Sent: Friday, March 11, 2005 9:10 AM
To: amy at rocky-hills.com; thelist at lists.evolt.org
Subject: Re: [thelist] Percentage of users still on Dialup? (offlist)

I'd be interested in hearing the answer.

I will make a comment here-- sometimes stats like these are deceptive in

terms of audience and demographics.

For instance--

I live approximately 60 miles west of NYC and approximately 60 miles NNE

of Philly.  Though I get broadband the options are awful.  There's 
oversubscribed and almost as slow as dialup cable, or there's dsl which 
has really bad service and uptime.  Many of my friends in the semi-rural

areas can only get that oversubscribed cable, and choose not to.  The 
rural areas I'm speaking of comprise some of the wealthiest in central 
and northern NJ, and eastern PA.  THIS is the demographic group that the

products of most of my webdesign clients will appeal to.  So though I do

sometimes include a "broadband bells and whistles" section on some of 
these websites, I design the overall site for dialup, and make it clear 
that the "bells and whistles" section may involve a long wait for the 
dialup people so they're forewarned and can make choices accordingly.   

I don't know if this situation is the case in other suburban areas, but 
it might be good to keep in mind.  Many folks with a few bucks choose to

live in semi-rural areas near a city, and broadband may still not be as 
prevalent in many of those areas as you might think, though I guess once

satellite hookups become more available and more dependable that will 
change.

I'm also hearing a lot about cellphone/palmpilot/mini access, which 
means smallscreen and low bandwidth.  I think I'm gonna keep designing 
my sites "svelte" regardless.

Just my two cents.
bj

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