Many Americans see little point to Web?

A little under one-third of U.S. households have no Internet access .

　　A little under one-third of U.S. households have no Internet access and do not plan to get it, with most of the holdouts seeing little use for it in their lives, according to a survey released on Friday.

　　Park Associates, a Dallas-based technology market research firm, said 29 percent of U.S. households, or 31 million homes, do not have Internet access and do not intend to subscribe to an Internet service over the next 12 months.

　　The second annual National Technology Scan conducted by Park found the main reason potential customers say they do not subscribe to the Internet is because of the low value to their daily lives they perceive rather than concerns over cost.

　　Forty-four percent of these households say they are not interested in anything on the Internet, versus just 22 percent who say they cannot afford a computer or the cost of Internet service, the survey showed.

　　The answer "I'm not sure how to use the Internet" came from 17 percent of participants who do not subscribe. The response "I do all my e-commerce shopping and YouTube-watching at work" was cited by 14 percent of Internet-access refuseniks. Three percent said the Internet doesn't reach their homes.

　　The study found U.S. broadband adoption grew to 52 percent over 2006, up from 42 percent in 2005. Roughly half of new subscribers converted from slower-speed, dial-up Internet access while the other half of households had no prior access.

　　"The industry continues to chip away at the core of nonsubscribers, but has a ways to go," said John Barrett, director of research at Parks Associates.

　　"Entertainment applications will be the key. If anything will pull in the holdouts, it's going to be applications that make the Internet more akin to pay TV ," he predicted.

　　据上周五公布的一项调查显示，近三分之一的美国家庭没有申请上网服务，而且也不打算申请，其中大多数家庭认为上网对他们的生活没什么意义。

　　据达拉斯Park Associates技术市场调查公司介绍，29%的美国家庭（3100万个家庭）未申请上网服务，而且在未来的一年内也没有这个打算。

　　这项由Park Associates公司开展的第二次年度全国科技调查发现，这些潜在用户不申请网络服务的主要原因是他们认为网络在日常生活中没有什么用途，而不是费用的问题。

　　调查显示，这些家庭中的45%称，他们对互联网上的东西不感兴趣；而只有22%称他们买不起电脑或承担不起上网费用。

　　17%的家庭说他们“不知道如何上网”；14%的家庭的回答则是“在上班时间网上购物或观看YouTube上的视频”；3%的家庭称网络还没通到家里。

　　调查发现，美国的宽带使用率从2005年的42%上升到了2006年的52%。近一半的新用户此前使用的是网速较慢的拨号上网服务，另一半用户之前没有申请网络服务。

　　Parks Associates公司的调查部经理约翰·巴里特说：“目前互联网业在继续努力，试图改变这些非网络用户的想法，但仍然需要一个过程。”

　　据约翰预测，“娱乐应用将是解决这一问题的关键。只有让互联网的作用更接近付费电视，才能赢得这些用户。”

　　Vocabulary:

　　holdout : one that withholds agreement（坚持不合作者）

　　dial-up Internet access : 拨号上网

　　pay-TV : 付费电视

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