If growth continues at that rate, more than half of all Americans will be using the Internet by the middle of 2001. The gap between households in rural areas and households nationwide that access the Internet has narrowed from 4.0 percentage points in 1998 to 2.6 percentage points in 2000. The majority of adults without Internet access say they are likely to stay away from the Internet. A substantial majority of those under 30 years old say they plan to get access. In contrast, seniors who are not online show little inclination to go online and say that the expense of going online still looms as a major issue for them.
Younger adults are the most likely to have dropped or lost Internet access.
Net Dropouts are relatively young, tend to have less education than Internet users, and come from households with less income. Thirteen percent of those who are not online, or about 12 million Americans, have used the Internet at sometime in the past and have since dropped off. They are young, under 30 years old, and of Hispanic and African-American heritage. Many say they think the Internet is confusing, hard to use, and would be dangerous or too expensive. The Nevers say they will definitely never go online.