Wireless Adoption Is Slower Than Expected
An online survey last week of nearly 3,200 Web users found the adoption rate for wireless Internet connection -- even among the most wired people -- to be moving at a much slower pace than anticipated.According to data compiled by consulting company Accenture, only 15 percent of consumers who own a cell phone or another portable electronic device are using it to connect to the Web.
Documenting the responses of residents from the United States, Britain and Germany, the study also found Web wireless use to vary dramatically from country to country.
For example, 72 percent of all Japanese cell phone users are using their phones to connect to the Web, compared with just 6 percent of users in the United States.
"Obviously, it is still much more convenient to access the Internet from a computer keyboard and that's what came out in the survey," said John Beck, an associate partner at Accenture's Institute for Strategic Change.
Indeed, most of the respondents surveyed said they liked the idea of a wireless Web, but in practice found it much easier to access the Internet from a personal computer.
The study also found that less than 1 percent of those polled said they were shopping online using their wireless devices, one of the biggest expected lures of the Web-enabled gadgets.
