A new Pew study shows that mobile access to the internet is growing. An April 2009 survey by the Pew Research
Center's Internet & American Life Project shows that 56% of adult
Americans have accessed the internet by wireless means, such as using a
laptop, mobile device, game console, or MP3 player. The most prevalent
way people get online using a wireless network is with a laptop
computer; 39% of adults have done this.
For young adults, close to two-thirds (62%) say it would be very hard to do without a cell phone, more than the half (51%) who say that about the internet and more than twice the
share that feels this way about the plain old landline telephone. While those 65 and older want to keep their landlines.
The report also finds rising levels of Americans using the internet
on a mobile handset. One-third of Americans (32%) have used a cell
phone or Smartphone to access the internet for emailing,
instant-messaging, or information-seeking. This level of mobile
internet is up by one-third since December 2007, when 24% of Americans
had ever used the internet on a mobile device. On the typical day,
nearly one-fifth (19%) of Americans use the internet on a mobile
device, up substantially from the 11% level recorded in December 2007.
That's a growth of 73% in the 16 month interval between surveys.
They also showed racial use of cell phones:
- 84% of English-speaking Hispanics have cell phones.
- 74% of white Americans have cell phones.
- 71% of black Americans have cell phones
- Hispanics show a very high usage of all cell phone featues..
