Published: July 01, 2009 01:41 pm      

LIFESTYLE: Permanent access

The Internet might not yet have killed the TV star, but it has sent the TV star to the hospital.

Along the way, the automobile, radio, DVD player and every other piece of electronic equipment has been served.

Evidence supports the notion that Internet-capable devices have become the most indispensable items in Americans’ lives. Consider:

• Nielsen reported in May that 131 million people watched an average of three hours of video per month online, up from 116 million people watching an average two hours in May 2008.

• About 13 million cell phone subscribers watched 3.5 hours of video a month on their phones, according to the same Nielsen report, up 52 percent from a year ago.

• The Pew Internet & American Life Project found in an April report that 9 percent of Internet users said that they’ve canceled or reduced their online service due to the recession. In comparison, 22 percent of adults eliminated or reduces cable TV service, and 22 percent of cell phone users did likewise with their phones.

• Pew also found late last year that 62 percent of adults use the Internet and-or e-mail at work, and that 96 percent of employed Americans have Internet access, e-mail or a cell phone.

• The Census Bureau reported earlier this year that 62 percent of U.S. households have Internet access in the home compared to 18 percent in 1997, when officials began recording data.

What does it mean

Although around for general public consumption for less than 20 years, the Internet has already become almost as integral a part of daily life as planning meals and going to work. As people continue to develop new ways to utilize the Web, according to Rebecca Bernstein, its influence will only continue to grow.

“Think about how many years it took after the Gutenberg Bible was printed for that type of mass communication to catch on. Only since 1993 has (the Internet) caught on,” said Bernstein, Web strategist and Web team leader for university communications at the University at Buffalo. “The Internet itself fascinates me because it’s a great leveler. It gives empowerment by putting information out there for anyone who can go find it.”

That empowerment can extend from researching a paper for school to founding a social movement and finding out where your friends are having lunch today. Bernstein’s daughters, for example, have kept in touch with a cousin they haven’t seen since infancy via Facebook, which more than 200 million Americans now use to stay connected.

“It’s good to have that immediate access to who people are and what they do,” she said. “You don’t even think about using the Internet anymore. If you go on a trip, you throw a page up online and go buy a ticket.”

With the Census Bureau reporting that 73 percent of 18- to 34-year-olds having accessed the Internet (compared to 35 percent of Americans ages 65 and older), as well as 56 percent of children ages 3 to 17, that trend likely won’t reverse itself at any point.

It’s not all good

Like any other technology, the Internet has its potential pitfalls.

• A Pew report from earlier this year found that 7 percent of Americans use the Internet as their primary means of social communication but feel conflicted about it. These people, whom the report called “ambivalent networkers,” are so connected they feel as though they can’t quit.

• A different Pew report completed last year found that the copyright war between protectors of intellectual property and “Crackers” looking to share content without payment will rage on infinitely.

• The same Pew report found that the divisions between personal time and work time will erode due to continual connection, as will the distinctions between physical and virtual reality.

• The Annenberg Center for the Digital Future at the University of Southern California recently released a report that found that 28 percent of Americans it interviewed last year said they have been spending less time with members of their households compared to 11 percent in 2006. The report, written about by The Associated Press, said that number has climbed concurrently with claims of youths younger than age 18 spending too much time on the Internet (28 percent in 2008, 11 percent in 2000).

Michael Gilbert, a senior fellow at the center, told the AP that "most people think of the Internet and (our) digital future as boundless, and I do too. (But) it can't be a good thing that families are spending less face-to-face time together. Ultimately, it leads to less cohesive and less communicative families."

Bernstein agrees, but she said that parents need to step up to maintain normalcy in the household. While not a gun advocate, she used firearms to draw a comparison to the situation.

“What’s the problem — is it the gun or is it the people who have the guns?” said Bernstein, who said her house has a computer in every room but the family eats dinner together nightly. “Are the parents in charge?”

The future

One thing everyone can agree upon is that the Internet isn’t going anywhere. What form it takes, though, has yet to be determined.

Pew projects that by 2020, mobile devices will be Americans’ primary connection tools to the Internet, with voice recognition and touch interfaces becoming more common.

Social sites such as Facebook and Twitter appear to have bright futures, but those futures should become more practical in purpose, Bernstein said. Numerous business offer exclusive deals through social Web sites, while entities such as the Niagara Falls Bridge Commission are launching Twitter feeds to release useful information such as want times at international bridges.

“That’s going to be a lot more useful than (a status update that reads), ‘I’m drinking a cup of coffee right now.’ ” she said.

Each user’s experience, much like those social networking capabilities, will become far more personalized, Bernstein said. Users will have more control over content, which she said will create an easier flow of information — instead of logging onto separate sites to check e-mail, sports scores and a social Web site, for example, the user will be able to easily flow from one to another.

Anyone who can’t keep up, she said, is likely to be left behind.

“When you’re looking into a business, do you assume they’ll have a Web page or do you assume they won’t have a Web page?” said Bernstein, referencing the current expectations of customers. “Tech-based opportunities are going to grow stronger and stronger.”

Contact Paul Laneat 693-1000, ext. 116.