You know that blank stare you got from your parents the first time you gave them your email address? Apparently you're not alone. According to a new survey from Park Associates, nearly one fifth of all heads of household in the US have never used email. And 20 million households are without internet access. That's about 18% of American households.Here are a few more fun facts:
Only 7 percent of those 20 million households plants to sign up for internet service within the next year.
Almost 33 % of heads of household have never created a document on a computer
Half of the folks who say they've never used email are over 65
More than half of those who haven't ever used email have no post-secondary education
The study did find some good news (if you count the fact that more and more people are spending their days in front of a computer screen good news). The number of "disconnected" households dropped from 29 percent in 2006.
Poll Junkie is a no-frills web service that lets you create simple polls without having to sign up for an account. All you have to do is give your poll a name, a date on which to stop accepting responses, and then you can configure your questions.
The site lets you create four types of questions: multiple choice, yes/no, rating, and ranking. You can have multiple questions on one poll, and you can optionally be notified by e-mail when a user completes your poll.
When your poll is set up, you are presented with the main poll link (to give to the people you're polling), and a view link so you can see the current results.
Amazon is sending out a survey to a select group of folks asking what changes they'd like to see to Amazon Unbox, the company's digital video download service. At one point, the survey asks what participants think of several possible improvements to the service:
Free video streaming with ads
Paid video streaming without ads
Burn downloaded movies to DVD for playback on a DVD player
Ability to purchase a DVD from Amazon.com and watch a streaming copy of the same movie while you wait for the physical disc to arrive
HD video downloads
Ability to purchase a DVD and get a digital media copy for a small additional fee
Subscription service that would allow you to watch a certain number of videos per month for a flat fee
Subscription service allowing you to watch a certain number of independent films for a flat fee
Ability to watch DVD extras when renting or purchasing a movie from Amazon Unbox
Browse your Unbox library on your TiVo
Now, there's no guarantee that any of these "improvements" are actually on their way. But it's nice to see that Amazon's at least considering them, because we'd kind of like to see one of each.
It's already possible to make and distribute surveys through Google Docs, but the process can be a pain. As survey-takers log-in to edit the spreadsheet, sometimes they don't follow directions or they edit parts they're not supposed to edit. What's worse is that users have to register with Google in order to use Google Docs, but this new Google Docs feature, called "forms," makes survey distribution and information collection incredibly easy.
Forms are created in Google Docs spreadsheets via the share tab, where you'll need to make sure you select "to fill out a form." Multiple-choice or free-response questions can be added as you wish. Then add some email addresses, and wait for the responses to arrive. Survey-takers don't need to sign-in and can access the survey through an email message or a link. The responses will be added to your spreadsheet automatically.
The Pew Internet & American Life Project just posted its findings on teens and the web, and it seems to have uncovered much of what we already know about the internet. Here's a bullet point summary of the major findings. With each point, we'll try to name site/service who's users would stereotypically match.
AIM: 93% of American teens (ages 12-17) use the web. Many of them use the web to interact with others.
YouTube: 64% of online teens create online content, up from 57% in 2004.
Livejournal (bad poetry): 39% of online teens share their artistic creations online.
MySpace: 27% of online teens keep a personal web page.
LOLcats?: 26% of online teens "remix" content they find online.
WoW: 49% of online teens play games online.
America: Teens are more likely to own desktop computers over any other type of "gadget." This one was almost surprising.
Facebook: Social network communicators are more "intense" communicators.
Facebook: Girls eclipse boys in photo posting.
Nintendo Wii: 31% of teens spend time time with friends outside of school every day.
High School: 34% of teens spend time with friends outside of school several times a week
To be honest, a lot of this is pretty obvious. We shouldn't need a study to find out chat rooms suck, teens tend to own computers, and girls are more likely than guys to post photos online. Regardless, there's a lot more information where that came from, so if you'd like to learn more about the online habits of today's teenagers, make sure to check out the full study.
Earlier this year we let you know that Jeffrey Zeldman and his crew at A List Apart were compiling statistics in an online survey for the web design profession. This survey includes insights from many people in this area of expertise including designers, developers, project managers, writers and editors. The survey results have now been released to the public in a freshly designed PDF report.
33,000 web professionals chimed in to answer the 37 questions asked. The raw data was then churned out into this 82 page document , nicely designed of course, answering many questions like Who Are You?, Education, Salary, Jobs & Titles to how many designers have blogs and websites and what skills they have.
A List Apart wants some information from you for a new survey they have released online.
Statistics have never been compiled for the Web Design profession, including designers, developers, project managers, writers and editors. This survey is aiming at tracking such questions as who we are, where we live, job titles, skills, education, and background.
By filling out the 37 question survey online, A List Apart will not only increase the knowledge about the industry, but each participant will be entered into a random draw to win a ticket to An Event Apart, an Apple 30GB video iPod, a jump drive, or a t-shirt.
The contest and survey remains open until May 22nd 2007, and data will be presented on A List Apart.
Have something to get to the bottom of and want to get input from everyone out there? Try QuestionForm, an easy to use online survey creator.
This online application gives registered users access to create surveys easily with drag and drop functionality. When they are complete, the surveys can be integrated into webpages, blogs, or social network spaces. As for statistics and reporting, responses are tracked in real time, and can be exported into a spreadsheet application for further analysis.
There are a few different price plans that QuestionForm offers. A free plan that allows for two surveys per month with five questions. At the top end for a $50/month fee, 20 surveys can be created with a customized logo and template. The prices seem a bit steep, but if you are looking to get valuable user feedback, this is a great option.
On our own CEO Jason Calacanis posted on his blog yesterday (hey, he's a businessman. He knows about business, man) that Kiko Calendar - one of the many web 2.0 services that sprung like so many weeds - is up for sale on eBay. Jason's post is, in fact, titled bluntly: "AJAX is not a business model."
Now forgive me for pimping our CEO's blog a little too much, but the guy might have a point: could this be sounding a roll call for the virtual horde of similar web 2.0 services out there that seem to be offering some (admittedly) stellar services without much more of a plan? The now-famous business model from the South Park episode with the under wear gnomes:
Develop cool web 2.0 service
...
profit (or in this case: "hope to get bought by Yahoo! or Google")
doesn't count either. So what say you, DLS readers? Is the web 2.0 bubble ready to blow, or do you think there's still room in this post's screenshot for yet another calendar, photo-sharing or [insert favorite service here] logo?
We asked you which RSS readers you use, and we even asked why you might not use RSS at all. Now Lifehacker has gone and posted the results of a poll they ran of which blog editors their readers use to create content for all those RSS feeds. Not surprisingly, online editors (what I would assume are the editors from each respective blogging service) won by a landslide. With the easy option out of the way, however, desktop blog editors followed in this editor: Performancing, w.bloggar, ecto (my personal favorite, since it fares a bit better on Mac OS X) and BlogJet.
What do you DLS readers think? Does Performancing simply not cut the cake, or is ecto the last editor you'd ever touch? Sound off.
Google bought dMarc Broadcasting a while ago. They specialize in connecting advertisers and agencies with radio stations, using an automated advertising platform. Google is planning on turning this tool into a highly targeted and measurable advertising medium. Google has been working to meld dMarc and AdWords together, and the fist few signs of this union are starting to get out.
techtoolblog recently got notification about a survey and questionnaire Google is asking advertisers to fill out. The questions talk about this new service offering advertisers direct contact with radio stations, helping connect advertisers with creative and production talent for their radio ads. Advertisers are asked to rank the interest level they have with this type of service.
Other questions in the survey go into greater depth on generating radio ads, selecting stations, setting prices, and cost per performance. Google also asks the question on how likely it would be for advertisers to be interested in this product if it was offered through Google, Yahoo, and MSN.
So it sounds like Google is working to develop the whole dMarc Google AdWords integration, they just have to get a grip on who would be interested, and at what level they would be using the potential advertising medium.
Poll Junkie is a no-frills web service that lets you create simple polls without having to sign up for an account. All you have to do is give your poll a name, a date on which to stop accepting responses, and then you can configure your questions.
The Pew Internet & American Life Project just posted its findings on teens and the web, and it seems to have uncovered much of what we already know about the internet. Here's a bullet point summary of the major findings. With each point, we'll try to name site/service who's users would stereotypically match. 
Earlier this year we let you know that Jeffrey Zeldman and his crew at A List Apart were compiling statistics in an online survey for the web design profession. This survey includes insights from many people in this area of expertise including designers, developers, project managers, writers and editors. The survey results have now been released to the public in a freshly designed PDF report. 
A List Apart wants some information from you for a new survey they have released online. 
On our own CEO Jason Calacanis posted on his blog yesterday (hey, he's a businessman. He knows about business, man) that Kiko Calendar - one of the many web 2.0 services that sprung like so many weeds - is up for sale on eBay. Jason's post is, in fact, titled bluntly: "AJAX is not a business model."
We asked you which RSS readers you use, and we even asked why you might not use RSS at all. Now Lifehacker has gone and posted the results of a poll they ran of which blog editors their readers use to create content for all those RSS feeds. Not surprisingly, online editors (what I would assume are the editors from each respective blogging service) won by a landslide. With the easy option out of the way, however, desktop blog editors followed in this editor: Performancing, w.bloggar, ecto (my personal favorite, since it fares a bit better on Mac OS X) and BlogJet. 
Google bought dMarc Broadcasting a while ago. They specialize in connecting advertisers and agencies with radio stations, using an automated advertising platform. Google is planning on turning this tool into a highly targeted and measurable advertising medium. Google has been working to meld dMarc and AdWords together, and the fist few signs of this union are starting to get out.
