Date: Wed, 6 Sep 2006 10:51:25 -0500 From: Nancy Baym <nbaym@ku.edu>
Has anyone got a good source of estimates of internet penetration in the United States over time? I am fanmiliar with Hobbes Internet Timelines' charts of total hosts, but that is not specifically American, and with Pew's charts, but those have enormous gaps prior to 2000. What I am hoping for is a simple summary of what percentage of Americans used the internet in 1992, 1993, 1994, 1995, etc.
Nancy, This doesn't exactly answer your question, but the US Census Bureau began asking questions about Internet use on its Computer Use and Ownership survey in 1997. http://www.census.gov/population/www/socdemo/computer.html There are items that hint at the existence of the Internet on the surveys prior to that year (i.e. the use of "bulletin boards"), but apparently the Internet was not on the government's radar until the late 90s. Hope that help! -Kris -- ********** ********** ********** ********** Kris M. Markman, Ph.D. Email: krism@alumni.utexas.net http://kris3198.home.comcast.net ********** ********** ********** **********