Not being connected is costly.
A great deal of focus has been placed on the high cost of Internet connection, but we seldom see reports on what it costs if you are not connected.
A UK study has now drawn attention to this.
When I came across this study I thought of my daughter and her husband. They are presently building a house and they are literally doing it via the Internet. I would guess that 90% of everything they buy is at least researched through the Internet and on two occasions they have saved themselves thousands of dollars. According to their estimate, these direct savings could easily amount to over $10,000.
Furthermore, they estimate that by using the Internet they have been able to achieve at least double that figure in benefits, simply by having access to more and better information on the various aspects of building a house.
They have selected a builder who ‘works online’ and their building plans are online. This means they have been able to share the process with family and friends, receiving ideas and suggestions. And now that the building phase has arrived progress will be noted online, complete with pictures.
Here is a direct comment from her.
“No way could we do without the Internet and we use it all day long (computer sits on the dining room table and is just about only used for Interneting of some type) and the type of Internet use isn’t just ‘surfing’, I use the Internet generally only for dedicated research or looking for items or services. I would almost go so far as to say that I wouldn’t use a company/service/product if they aren’t available online. This is certainly true with choosing the builder as we really pulled our initial selection off the Internet and therefore any builder without a website (unless they were recommended by word of mouth) would not have gotten a look in. Often decisions are made (to some degree) based on the quality of the website.
In terms of cost saving with the build, one enormous saving has been on time and petrol. If we had to do the research without the Internet we would have spent weeks and weeks driving from one end of the city to another looking at things, however now we narrowed our searches down considerably by only having to visit a couple of places and then making a selection. Without the access to the information via websites we would not have had such a comprehensive understanding of costs involved and were therefore able to negotiate better with the builder. “
A study by Post Office Broadband in the UK found that so-called ‘non-line’ families could be losing out on monthly savings of up to £70 on household goods and services.
Again, when I checked this figure with my sons and some of their friends there was widespread agreement that they saved money on a monthly basis to about the same degree as was quoted in the study. Nowadays we have an Internet-savvy generation of people who use the Internet as a matter of course because they know that they getting real financial benefits by doing so.
The report defined ‘non-liners’ as people who would like to be online but are being held back, either through fear or a lack of tuition.
Many recent studies have revealed that broadband would be one of the things people would not give up if they found they had to constrict their budget. The fact that the Internet offers price-saving opportunities such as price comparison sites was hinted as a possible reason for the trend.
The Post Office research also found that 18% of non-Internet-savvy people felt shunned by society because of their lack of online ability. But apparently friends and family had been trying to help them get round this problem. Seven in ten people said they had attempted to assist loved ones with the online world – although this would often end in arguments.
For related information, see separate report: Global – Internet – Overview & Statistics
January 31st, 2009 at 7:56 am
[...] “Not being connected is costly” – This is a post at BuddeBlog mentioning a UK study that came to this conclusion; I only with he would provide link to the study itself. Here, on the other hand, an example with a link to the full report suggesting that mobile phones have positive impact on economic growth – “India: The Impact of Mobile Phones“. [...]