Compiled by Vicky Nolan
More Evidence of Widespread Problem Gambling
A recent survey of New Zealanders found that as many as 50,000 (about 1 percent of adults there) have gambling problems, according to XTRA News. An Auckland University professor indicated that the number of women suffering from problem gambling has increased since a previous survey in 1991.
Additionally, problem gamblers come from all walks of life.
Networking at Home
It's becoming more common for LANs to be set up in homes, and driving the trend are two factors: More homes have multiple PCs and its' easier to get high-speed Internet access. By 2004, 67.7 million American homes--more than 63 percent--will have PCs, and about half of those homes, 30.4 million, will have more than one, according to IDC's IT Forecaster. Among homes with more than one computer, 58 percent will be setting up their own network.
www.idc.com
TV Portals Are Tuning in to Interactive TV
The success of Internet portals has inspired the development of similar interactive television portals in the U.S. Sales of goods and services through these portals are expected to hit $10.7 billion in 2004, Gartner
Research reports. "Inspired by the sight of black ink at the bottom of balance sheets for companies such as America Online and Yahoo!, a great deal of attention is now being paid to the possibility that the portal formula can be duplicated on other interactive platforms, such as digital cell phone and interactive TV," said Mark Snowden, a Gartner Research analyst. "Like Internet portals, TV portals will have a range of services that attract large viewing audiences and also take advantage of niche opportunities."
www.gartner.com
London Is Home to Most U.K. Internet Users
Nearly 32 percent of U.K. Internet users can be found in London and the South, MMXI Europe learned. The findings, reported by Computer Weekly, also show that the total U.K. Internet population has increased by 1.8 million users from January to April 2000. During April, men accounted for 52.4 percent of Internet users, followed by 34.8 percent of users being women, and 12.8 percent were children aged 14 and under.
Techno-Geeks No Longer Dominate the Web
A survey of Internet users commissioned by PARADE magazine and conducted by Greenfield Online has found that over three-quarters of Internet users have shopped online. Most of these shoppers are baby-boomers aged 35-54. Contrary to popular misconception, the typical e-shopper is no tech savvy young guy, but more likely to be a 42-year-old male or female. Men account for 55 percent of Internet purchases, but women are right behind at 45 percent. "Clearly, the Web is going mainstream, fast," said Parade's technology editor. "The people who are spending the most money online are the same people who are spending the most money offline: baby boomers, solidly middle-class people in their 302 and 40s. Middle America is driving e-commerce, not some digital elite."
Along similar lines, Forrester Research found that more than half of U.S. households would be online by 2001. Additionally, more than a third of those accessing the Internet will have purchased online, while one in ten will have banked or invested online. "2000 will be remembered as the year that important psychological thresholds were crossed and technologies once considered cutting-edge
entered the mainstream--making the PC as common as the stereo system," commented a Forrester researcher. "Today's Internet consumers are doing and spending more online--faster." He added, "In 1999, only 13 percent of those online for less than six months had purchased online. Twenty-four percent of this year's inductees have bought something in the past three months."
www.greenfieldonline.com, www.forrester.com
Consumers Are Not Quite Ready to Go Wireless
Although the wireless Internet is being heavily touted as the next "big thing," research from Cyber Dialogue finds that more than a third of heavy Web users surveyed aren't interested handling financial services via a cellular telephone. Instead, respondents were more interested in checking their account balances and using e-mail via their cell phones. "No doubt the market most ripe for online financial services via cell phones is the approximately 30 million cyber citizens already using the Internet for their financial service needs," commented a Cyber Dialogue senior analyst. "To capitalize on this market, financial service companies need to offer a compelling reason why consumers should start transacting via
their cellular phones."
www.cyberdialogue.com
A Dearth of Good Web Material Reported in Belgium
Belgian Internet usage is suffering from high telecommunications costs and a lack of good local information on the Web. The latest Belgian Internet Mapping Study from InSites found that one in three Belgians with Internet access never uses it.
The introduction of free ISPs has led to an explosion of new users receiving access to the Internet, especially among French speakers, housewives, manual workers and the unemployed. Currently, 25 percent of households are connected, and 44 percent of Belgians have Internet access, but only 1.68 million are regularly use the Internet, InSites said.
The most popular online activities are accessing email, followed by visiting entertainment, news, tourism, government and computer/IT sites. Nearly 36 percent of Belgian surfers have shopped online, 22 percent bank online, 11 percent search for employment, and seven percent of Belgian Internet users trade shares on the Internet.
Women Around the World Access the Web
Web usage is big in Japan, with 1.8 million using mobile phones, plus another 110,000 access the Internet via TV set-top boxes, and 600,000 use their PDAs. Of the 16.4 million active Internet users in Japan, 37 percent are women, reported Media Metrix.
Meanwhile, France has more than 7.2 million Internet users over age 15, of which 40 percent are women. The number of female users has increase from 36 percent in the final quarter of 1999.
www.mediametrix.com