World Wide Web has not caught up everyone

Like it or not, the Internet for many of us is an important component in our work and our leisure. But for those who believe the Internet will replace newspapers and television and every other form of communication, you might want to read a new study out that paints a different portrait.

I have a love/hate relationship with the Internet. Granted, it can make life a bit easier but it can also complicate the heck out of life. The older generation - and that includes me - shuns much of the new technology that seems to expand and improve daily. Too many gadgets that do too many things.

But before we address the Internet, there is also a growing distaste for cell phones. Count me high among those who wish cell phones were abolished. I can give a million reasons against cell phone and a half-dozen in their favor. That should fairly well state my position.

This new survey - which came as a big surprise to those who conducted the study - shows that half of the public in this country have little or no use for cell phones or the Internet. The other half are about evenly divided between those who embrace this new technology and those who muddle through.

The Internet - like the radio and television long ago - has changed society. It would be easy to argue the change has clearly been for the worse. But I guess you could argue otherwise.

The bottom line is this: The Internet in some form or fashion is here to stay. I would venture a guess that the Internet of the future will be far different than what we experience today.

But regardless of the innovation, the speed and all the bells and whistles, not everyone will universally embrace cell phones nor the Internet.

Can you image a day when we'll be "forced" to speak with someone face-to-

face or even look something up in a book if you don't know the answer? It certainly won't bother me.

Were it not for e-mail, I would abandon the Internet. And given that 90 percent of my e-mail is junk, I've about reached that point.

Those who boast that the Internet will replace newspapers and all other forms of communication need to speak to the 50 percent of the survey responders. Not everyone is as enamored with the Internet as others. Like it or not, those are the facts.