Alittleunderone-thirdofU.S.familieshavenoInternetaccessanddonotplantogetitwithmostoftheholdoutsseeinglittleuseforitintheirlivesaccordingtoasurveyreleasedonFriday.
ParkAssociatesaDallas-basedtechnologymarketresearchfirmsaid29percentofU.S.familiesor31millionhomesdonothaveInternetaccessanddonotintendtosubscribe(预订)toanInternetserviceoverthenext12months.ThesecondannualNationalTechnologyScanconductedbyParkfoundthatthemainreasonwhypotentialcustomerssaytheydonotsubscribetotheInternetisbecauseofthelowvaluetotheirdailylivesratherthanconcernsovercost.
Forty-fourpercentofthesefamiliessaytheyarenotinterestedinanythingontheInternetversusjust22percentwhosaytheycannotaffordacomputerorthecostofInternetservicethesurveyshowed.Theanswer"I'mnotsurehowtousetheInternet"camefrom17percentofparticipantswhodonotsubscribe.Theresponse"Idoallmye-commerceshoppingandYouTube-watchingatwork"wascitedby14percentofInternet-accessrefuseniks.ThreepercentsaidtheInternetdoesn'treachtheirhomes.
ThestudyfoundU.S.broadbandadoptiongrewto52percentover2006upfrom42percentin2005.Roughlyhalfofnewsubscribersconverted(转变)fromslower-speeddial-upInternetaccesswhiletheotherhalfoffamilieshadnoprioraccess.
"Theindustrycontinuestochip(击破)awayatthecoreofnon-subscribersbuthasalongwaytogo"saidJohnBarrettdirectorofresearchatParksAssociates."Entertainmentapplicationswillbethekey.Ifanythingwillpullintheholdoutsit'sgoingtobeapplicationsthatmaketheInternetmoresimilartopay-TV"hepredicted.
【小题1】Whatdoestheunderlinedword“holdouts”inthefirstparagraphmostprobablymean?