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sector: home use |
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location: Altrincham |
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technology used: broadband since March 2003 through AOL |
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website: N/A |
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The Jones family live in a two-down, three-up semi-detached house, a ten minute drive from the centre of Altrincham. Mike and Mandy are both in their late 30s.Mike works in the warehouse of a distribution company, starting at 7 am and finishing at 3 pm, normally arriving home around 3.30 pm. |
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Mandy is a window dresser. She works 9 am to 3 pm,which fits in nicely with the children's school day. Alexander is a shy but friendly ten-year-old. Emma is a confident five going on 25. They go to school in the centre of Altrincham and Mandy drops them off and collects them on her way to and from work. This is a very tidy household, although with the visible signs of young children. When everyone is home, activity is focused around the dining room. A dining table takes up the central space of the room where the family have their dinner and where Alexander and Emma will sit to do homework and draw pictures. There is also a sofa facing a small television on a shelf to the left of the dining table, where the children like to watch The Simpsons. |
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They have two computers: one in the dining room and one in Alexander's bedroom. The computer in the dining room is in a cupboard in the corner of the room. When it is not in use, it is switched off and the cupboard is closed so that the computer and its associated bits and pieces – printer, CD-ROMs, speakers – are completely hidden. Mike normally turns on the computer when he gets home from work and then turns it off before he goes to bed. The computer is then used, on and off, throughout the evening. Mike says that he is 'into gadgets' and as such is the main driver of technology adoption. The computer is a hobby, something he enjoys. He learnt how to it from his brother and nephew. He telephones them with questions about how to do particular things (how to download images into clipart, how to download music). He mainly uses the computer for the internet. Mandy says her favourite piece of technology is the washing machine, followed by the dishwasher. She did a City and Guilds computer course a few years ago but says it did not teach her about email and the internet – it was mainly Word and spreadsheets. She says she is scared of breaking the PC, and would rather use a spare hour to sit down with a magazine and a glass of wine. The computer provides no obvious benefit to Mandy. |
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Alexander uses the computer for homework and is really into computer games. Emma likes using the computer, but is less bothered about it than Alexander and also seems to be given less priority than Alexander when it comes to who gets to use it. Emma has educational games, such as a Teletubbies CD-ROM. |
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They have had the internet almost as long as they have had the computer. They got it to help with Alexander's homework. They went with AOL because of the homework help, the virus scanner, and the children's internet setting. Mike thought broadband was too expensive at first and waited for the price to come down. They went for AOL broadband because of easy installation and free equipment – they felt that there were too many extra charges with BT. They have now had broadband for approximately six months. |
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The internet's main use is shopping and banking. Mike uses the internet for shopping but makes sure that it is a secure site. Mandy will not agree to food shopping over the internet because she says you need to see the goods. Mike talks about how quick broadband is. For example, he booked a hotel, flights, and car for a family holiday to Ireland and it only took him an hour. He said it would have taken him much more time to go round the shops looking for the best deal. This provided them with an affordable holiday, the first holiday that they have had as a family and Mike and Mandy's first holiday since their honeymoon. |
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Mike uses the internet a lot for comparing prices – not spending more than necessary for a particular product is a priority in this household. For example, during one visit ,Mike checked the price of a steamer on the Homebase website because he saw an advert for it in the paper. He then compared the price with the Argos website. He printed out the details and later showed them to Mandy and compared features – cost, what it could be used for, power, length of time it could be used. Mike does all his banking and pays most of the household bills on the internet since getting broadband – it was too slow before. |
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Mike also likes the internet for the news pages. When they had Sky, Mike liked the news channels but they did not bother to get Sky again when they moved because now he can go on the CNN website, as well as the AOL news pages. Mike also reads the AOL homepage and follows links from that to current websites, e.g. the Pop Idol website. If he wants to find information on something, Mike uses the AOL search engine and ask.com. He says he finds the internet addictive – it 'sucks you in' and you do not notice the time slipping away. |
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Mandy says that she is a 'cyberwidow'. The whole family like watching film trailers on the AOL site and they use it to help decide if the children would like a particular film, ie whether they would find it too scary. They watch trailers on the Disney website, which is on their Favourites menu where there are also games that Emma and Alexander have tried. |
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For the Jones family, the internet is used largely as an educational tool, a tool to ease the chore of paying bills, and a tool for ensuring that they do no spend more than necessary on a particular item. Broadband has increased the amount that they use the internet, making shopping and paying bills online quick and easy, whereas without broadband it was a task that could be painfully slow. |
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