The world of internet "have-nots" is not just populated by people who can’t go online. Chris Bowlby finds there are many who simply won’t.

If you’re reading this, you’re part of the internet using majority. But it’s not nearly as much of an overwhelming majority as many assume.

It’s estimated that as many as 17 million people in Britain aged over 15 are not using the internet.

And, in a worrying trend for those planning a "digital revolution" in public services, the rate at which people are becoming new users is slowing.

Non-users are "becoming less and less likely to want to be engaging with technology such as the internet," says Ellen Helsper, who has been a leading researcher with the Oxford Internet Institute. There is a rise in the number of people saying they are just not interested in being online, "it’s not that relevant to my life, I don’t see how I would fit it in".

So the internet refuseniks seem to be, in many cases, very determined. But given the sheer wealth of information that can be accessed through a few mouse clicks and keystrokes, why would anyone consciously choose to avoid the online world

At University of Dundee I meet researchers whose job it is to understand why so many people are shunning the net.

Their subjects are mostly over 50s and several say net use would leave them less or no time for activities they value highly.

"I know a lot of friends, they’re hooked on the damn thing" says one woman. She knew a "marvellous artist" who had abandoned her art in order to spend time computing.

Impersonal

"It’s destroyed a lot of family life" complains another, as hobbies are no longer enjoyed communally.

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Others lament the loss of personal communication.

"We tried computing and we’re back to writing letters" says one of those being questioned by researcher, as e-mail is seen as too impersonal for close human contact.

"My wife won’t send e-mail" one man says. "She likes the personal touch [so] doesn’t know what’s happening to that letter of yours [if it is sent electronically]."

Privacy is another worry, as computers have made information gathering so powerful.

"The whole world’s on computers", says one woman. "You just have to say your postcode and they know everything about you. I’m just not interested."

"If you hit the wrong key," says her neighbour, "what about privacy"

And hitting the wrong key took us into complaints about design and computer complexity.

"I’m bad with fingers, that’s why I make mistakes" one woman tells me. "Computers are like a Rubik’s cube," a former teacher says. "Once you start to make a mess, and you don’t know what you’re doing, all you do is make a bigger mess."

Curtains down

Alan Newell, professor at the Dundee university school of computing, points out the typical computer tends "to be designed by young male computer scientists and they tend not to understand the challenges it provides for groups of people they never meet".

While the sheer amount of information online is what draws many to immerse themselves in the net, the same fact also deters some.

"You get so much junk you have to clear out" one confirmed non-user complains. "I just don’t feel I’m going to get any pleasure out of it", says another in the group.

But what’s the harm in opting out of everything online

There is growing anxiety that those who choose to remain offline will pay a price. One woman living in sheltered housing had noticed all the discounts being given to those paying electronically. She speaks of a "curtain coming down" between those who were and were not online.

It’s a problem all over the country. At a community centre run by the Lighthouse project at Rowley Regis in the Midlands, Tina and Brian Whitehouse are working hard at their computer skills after both losing jobs in the recession.

"A lot of the jobs now, you can only apply online" says Tina, "so if you don’t know the basics of a computer, how can you apply online"

This centre’s work shows how the millions not online are far from confined to older people.

"You’d be amazed at the amount of people of all ages who come here with no computer experience" says John Payne, who works at the centre.

Forcing a switch

He is in late 20s and only recently took up computing and using the internet as his parents could not afford to be online at home. Even those who can afford computers, he adds, often let them gather dust as they are fearful of damaging them and lack the training and support to become regular users.

With the current pressure on public spending government wants to move more and more services online, arguing that services can both be improved and cost less to deliver.

"You can’t be a proper citizen of our society in the future if you are not online"

Martha Lane-Fox

But if many millions remain offline, savings will be harder to make, and political controversy will grow if government tries to force people to switch by offering more and more limited alternatives – especially in areas such as health care.

Martha Lane Fox, dotcom pioneer and now appointed as the government’s digital inclusion champion, is convinced of the internet’s benefits for all.

"I don’t think you can be a proper citizen of our society in the future if you are not engaged online," she says.

But she worries too, she told me, about the refuseniks’ attitudes becoming "too prevalent".

So those who find life without the internet unimaginable, and those who still aren’t convinced, must find better ways of understanding each other – provided, that is, they can ever agree on how to communicate.

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