The next Bill Gates is more likely to come from China or Japan than the United States, according to a poll of Americans' Internet attitudes released today.Demographics is destiny.Best of luck to the evening news cast.
Most Americans polled also think that new camera and Internet technologies are turning the United States ``into a nation of voyeurs and paparazzi.''
And by a 2-1 ratio, Americans say they would rather watch an old-fashioned TV evening news report's coverage of an event than the sort of ``citizen video'' that has become increasingly popular.
The nationwide poll of 1,203 adults was conducted this month by Zogby International for a Washington firm, 463 Communications, that works with the tech industry. The poll has a margin of error of plus or minus 2.9 percentage points.
An overwhelming majority of those polled (83 percent) believes a typical 12-year-old knows more about the Internet than the average member of Congress. That may reflect YouTube's widely viewed clip of Sen. Ted Stevens, R-Alaska, describing the Internet as ``a series of tubes.''
Even with YouTube's popularity, however, most Americans still favor a traditional news source -- an evening news broadcast -- over citizen videos for coverage of the same event.
But the poll shows a generational divide emerging: One out of four younger Americans (ages 25 to 34) would prefer the video over conventional news coverage.
Wednesday, December 20, 2006
Once a novelty, internet now a big part of life, poll shows
The San Jose Mercury reports: