The report tells us a lot about who uses the Internet, and what kind of access they have. Let's take a closer look at the findings of the report, and see how they affect online genealogy.

As recently as October 2000, the U.S. government was reporting that over half of American households had a computer, and that more than 80 percent of those had access to the Internet. How do Internet users differ from the general population? First, Internet users tend to have higher incomes, on the average. Internet users also tend to be better educated. Another interesting point is that it is no longer the case that men are more likely to be Internet users than woman. And Internet users are more likely to fall into the 25-54 age bracket and less likely to be 55 and up.

The report took a close look at how Americans access the Internet. 87 percent of Internet users have access via ordinary dial-up telephone lines (sometimes referred to as "narrowband access"). The remainder of Internet users have broadband access. Nearly 9 percent use cable modems, and over 3 percent have Digital Subscriber Line (DSL) telephone service. Fewer than 1 percent have wireless access to the Internet. Broadband access is not available everywhere in the United States, and it is especially less likely to be available in rural areas. And broadband access isn't cheap. The vast majority of broadband users pay $31/month or more for their access. Meanwhile, many narrowband users pay less than $20/month.

What do Internet users use the Internet for? Nearly 90 percent of Internet users rate e-mail as important, while nearly 80 percent consider Web surfing to be important. Other Internet services, such as chat rooms and personal Web pages, are not rated nearly as high.

The report itself goes into much greater detail than the summary I have provided, but at this point, I want to talk about what the report might mean to genealogists. First, it tells me that I have a very good chance of reaching distant relatives via e-mail, since so many American households now have Internet access. I would expect this percentage to continue to rise in the next few years until nearly everyone has access from home (just as today, telephones and televisions can be found in nearly every home).

Traditionally, the average genealogist has been older than the average American, no doubt for a number of factors including the freedom that retirement gives in finding the time to pursue genealogy. But the GAO report tells us that Internet usage is more common among those younger than 55. This means that the typical Internet-using genealogist is probably going to be younger than the average genealogist, and that many older genealogists may not yet have obtained access to the Internet from home. However, I would not be the least surprised if 55-plus genealogists were more likely to be Internet users than 55-plus non-genealogists.

Finally, we can expect that many Internet-using genealogists will be switching from narrowband to broadband access in the next few years, although the high cost and the lack of availability in rural areas will be stumbling blocks. As these genealogists switch, we can expect to see more and more genealogists accessing and sharing larger computer files (such as digitized images of original documents).

The GAO's recent report may not have stirred up as much controversy as other recent government counting activities, but it does provide those of us who use the Internet with an interesting look at who we are!