Comment: Preaching to the unconnected

The government will run a campaign from 12 May until 7 June to encourage new users into its UK Online centres for their first experience of the Internet.

Having met the target of 6,000 UK Online centres by the end of 2002, Patricia Hewitt, secretary of state for trade and industry and e-minister, said the government aims to close "the digital divide" and help more people to go online. During the campaign, anyone who wants it will be given a free Internet introductory session.

The initiative is designed to raise awareness of the benefits of the Internet. But after yet another frustrating attempt to get my own mother to use email or the digital TV box I bought her, I hope that Age Concern - which will be working with the government's e-envoy on the Silver Surfer Festival part of the campaign - will be more successful than me. My mother is totally unimpressed by Bill Gates's contention that technology can help people realise their potential. She admits to feeling intimidated by the technology, but she is also very bored by it. Nothing beats the letter on the doormat from Australia, according to her. Having spoken to many of her friends, I know she is not alone.

I have recently used the UK Online centre Web site myself to identify "what a UK Online centre will do for me". The opening description needs to be jazzed up just a bit, I think. The main thrust is that it will enable me to check out football results, check my favourite football club fixtures, help me learn more about my personal interests and hobbies, swap knitting patterns with friends, email my family around the world, and book holidays.

A mental image of my poor mother formed, typing out her best Aran sweater pattern two-fingered, over a rather extended period, causing a large amount of resentment from people queuing for the PC in the library. Availability of scanning facilities was not mentioned.

To be honest, further exploration reveals much more potential via linked sites, particularly in the field of education, and the two case studies quoted directly relate to improving the quality of life.

Site traffic figures for the UK Online portal show that less than half a million people visit it per month, indicating why the campaign is necessary. The figures do not reveal whether people gain access via home PCs or through UK Online centres.

According to a survey, last December 52 percent of the adult population were regular Internet users, but there was little growth in Internet access among those with the lowest income - just 10 percent of the poorest tenth of the population were online compared with 82 percent in the richest tenth. Only 17 percent of those over 65 were online and 38 percent of the total adult population had never gone online.

So good luck to the campaign presenters - the unwired population obviously needs the encouragement being offered. And please, mum, give it a go!

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