Demand for Fast Net Access Slowing

Sept. 30, 2005 — -- In this week's "Cybershake," we take a look at what one survey says about the demand for high-speed Net connections in the United States. Plus, the U.S. Agriculture Department uses an online game to teach kids about the new "food pyramid" and how to eat healthy.

A Burp in Broadband Demand?

Do you remember the early days of going online? The high-pitched shrill of the computer's modem as it tries to connect to an online service? The slow pace at which digital information arrived?

The good news is that a majority of Americans have made the switch to faster, always-on, "broadband" Internet connections and have most likely said a blissful "goodbye" to those pioneering days.

A new study by the non-profit Pew Internet and American Life Project in Washington, D.C. shows that by May of this year, 53 percent of U.S. homes had access to the Internet via high-speed connections such as cable TV modems or "DSL" lines provided by local telecom companies.

But John Horrigan, director of research for the Pew Internet organization, says that's only a slight jump from the 50 percent of homes with high-speed access back in December 2004. And that measly three percent increase is a far cry from the 20 percent jump in broadband adoption the industry saw over the same period a year ago.

The reason? Simple: Almost every speed-hungy online user has ditched the old modem, says Horrigan.

"Existing broadband users were the early adopters who used to pay for the dial-up wait and they got impatient with it, which is why they switched over to broadband," says Horrigan. "We see a slowing down in broadband growth partly because most of the low-hanging fruit of early adopters have been harvested by broadband providers."

Cable TV service providers and telecom companies have been aggressively marketing their high-speed Net services with new features – digital movies and music, low-cost online phone services – in hopes that more will make the switch. However, Horrigan says that such bells and whistles might not attract the estimated 63 million Americans who still log on with their slow modems.

"Existing dial-up users don't use the Internet as dial-up users of a few years ago. They tend to be older, less well-educated and also with lower incomes," says Horrigan. "For somebody who's an older, dial-up Internet user, who's content with the very basics of Internet use – e-mail and a little bit of news surfing online – there really aren't too many incentives to switch to broadband."

The one enticement that may get reluctant dial-up users to switch: competitive rates. Some telephone companies, for example, have lowered monthly fees for high-speed DSL to about $15 per month – comparable to or even cheaper than the dial-up service offered by some access providers.

"The price cuts might be attractive to some of those users," says Horrigan. "But a lot of these users are not going to be interested in incurring the switching costs – of switching to broadband, troubleshooting a new type of connection, and even switching e-mail addresses."

The Pew report uses data gathered from six telephone surveys on Internet use in the U.S. conducted from 2002 to 2005. The sample sizes of the surveys range from 914 to 2,201 respondents.

The complete Pew study, "Broadband Adoption at Home in the United States: Growing But Slowing," can be found at the organization's Web site: www.PewInternet.org.

– Donna Renae, ABC News

A Game for Good Eating

Pizza, hamburgers, hot dogs, potato chips, sodas, french fries … These are the foods kids love. But they're also leading to an increase in childhood obesity.

On Wednesday, the U.S. Department of Agriculture introduced its Food Pyramid for Young Children program, a guide to promote healthier eating choices among children aged 6 to 11 years old. Like the revamped guide for adults introduced five months ago, the new children's food guide stresses less fatty foods and more physical activity.

As part of the initiative to educate kids about healthier choices, the government agency also introduced a free video game called MyPyramid Blast Off Game.

Here's the idea: Kids pick the right foods – things like veggies, fruits, whole grains and dairy products – to fuel an on-screen rocket. If they fill it with enough good stuff the rocket blasts off for Planet Power. Load it with bad stuff, though, and the rocket stays on the ground.

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Pervention, almost 16 percent of American children are considered overweight. And officials at the USDA believe the MyPyramid program is a fun way for kids to approach the serious topic of obesity.

Still, critics complain that the program doesn't go far enough and that a more effective approach might have been to put more fruits and vegetables in school menus and ban junk food advertisements.

The MyPyramid Blast Off Game can be found at the USDA's Web site, www.MyPyramid.gov/kids. The game can be played online or downloaded for free.

– Cheri Preston, ABC News

Cybershake is produced for ABC News Radio by Andrea J. Smith.