Will I be blerging at 65?

There's a big assumption that the U.S. is pretty connected when it comes to Internet access, computer usage, e-mail and technology adoption, but we often need to be reminded that there are others out there (either by choice or not) who don't have access to the technology we take for granted.

About 20% of all U.S. heads-of-households have never used e-mail, according to the latest National Technology Scan study from Parks Associates. The research says about 20 million U.S. households (approximately 18% of all U.S. households) do not have Internet access.

Some other stats from the survey: 30% of those surveyed have never used a computer to create documents; 21% have never looked up a Web site on the Internet; 21% have never sent or received e-mails from someone; and 21% never searched for information on the Internet.

Parks Associates says that age and education are factors in determining those that have used the Internet. More than half of those who have never used e-mail, for example, are over age 65, and 56% had no schooling beyond high school.

The numbers of those disconnected are still declining, according to the report. In 2006, 29% of U.S. households (31 million homes) did not have Internet access, citing low perceived value of the Internet.

I often wonder at what point my technology adoption excitement will stop as I get older. I'm already seeing it in some aspects – e-mail is still the major way that I communicate, and studies have shown that younger generations are text messaging and instant messaging more than using e-mail. I suppose that by the time I turn 65, I'll be one of those in the minority of those people "who never had a chip implanted in their head" or whatever technology is the hot one in 25 years. Knowing the way we tend to create new words to explain new technology, it will be something like, "35% of those over 65 have never blerged," and those technology journalists who are younger than me will be wondering what's holding me back from blerging.