It's hard to say where people are going to make the adjustment, but entertainment and recreation are easier to cut than financial services, medical services and education. If ordinary consumers decide they can't afford new services, this could open another kind of digital divide. The question is whether other people not only can't participate but get shut out of the social process. When people get cut off, it's a social problem. If they do, the question may become what other services lose.
Spending looks even steadier when combined with all communications services.
Premium cable channels, such as HBO and Showtime, know how hard it is to persuade consumers to pay extra monthly fees. Still, providers of the newest services say they're encouraged by consumer response. And several executives say the services will sell just because they're too compelling to resist. That could make them as integral to users' lives as cell phones. They're so convenient.