Sorry it's late, my Internet wasn't working.
18-35:
I interviewed my roommate Eric and his girlfriend Chelsy about their Internet usage. After talking with them a little while they said when they were younger, the Internet was all about AOL Instant Messenger, and that really nothing else mattered. Since coming to college, they both have started using email heavily, the first thing they do every morning is check their respective email accounts. Chelsy said now that she is in college, she primarily uses the Internet for email, blackboard, shopping, and light surfing. Eric said he likes to watch movies on Hulu.com, email, blackboard, news websites, sport scores, and casual surfing. What I find interesting is how my perception of other people and their Internet use is a bit skewed. I have always had a knack for computers and technology, and I tend to use the Internet for a lot of things, one of my biggest time sinks is that I like to learn about random things, a lot. I would say I'm a heavy web surfer and I'm constantly searching out articles in order to learn about new things. A buddy of mine (who I met online playing video games) said the Internet is a huge part of his life in his career, and in his personal life at home. He also said he doesn't mind being so attached to the web, he feels it is a resource to be exploited.
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I talked to my older brother Jason, who is very computer illiterate. He's the type of user that doesn't know how to set up or install things, but can use the programs pretty well to get done what needs to be done. He said other than online banking, email, and the occasional bit of light surfing, he doesn't really use the Internet. He said it's just not a part of his life. My brother is a very hands on kind of guy, he's a General Contractor and takes part in every process of creating a home. I don't think he is really all that comfortable with communicating on the Internet, I didn't specifically ask him that question, it was more of just a general discussion, and from what I've gathered that seems to be a fair assessment. Wood and Smith talk about diffusion of innovation as "communication about new ideas through certain channels over time among members of a social system." I think it's an interesting concept that can apply to many different topics. I think that because my brother doesn't use the Internet as much as I do, he is being limited in the type of information and ideas he is exposed to. Like I said I surf pretty heavily, but I've read countless articles about quantum mechanics, black holes, nanotechnologies, and a ton of other subjects. Sure I may not be an expert on those subjects, but the ability to even be able to think about those subjects is such a great resource.
61+
I am still awaiting the reply from my Grandfather, I will repost when I receive his response.
I want to comment on the second age group. In my blog I had a similar response. My husband is 39 and he has similar problems with typing and internet use. I am not too far off in age from him and I have good typing skills. In school I took a typing class on an old fashioned typewriter and learned rather quickly. My husband also took that same class and said he hated it. He had real trouble remembering the hand placement and was frustrated easily. Since that time he has not learned to type because he avoids using the computer unless he is searching for information which requires little typing. I worry that their generation has missed out on something. I am hoping that they are only two out of a bigger population of people.
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