Original URL: https://www.theregister.com/2009/06/10/bbc_comments/

Beeb invites net comments from unconnected

No internet? Tell us online!

By Lester Haines

Posted in Bootnotes, 10th June 2009 09:16 GMT

The BBC is currently probing the shocking news that 17 million Britons, or 30 per cent of the population, are currently without an internet connection - and that 43 per cent of those wouldn't poke the interwebs with a sharp stick even if they were given a free PC and broadband.

Fair enough, but what raises this particular piece to a Beeb classic is this form inviting comments:

BBC online form inviting comments from those with not net connection

Reg reader Daniel Free notes: "I replied using only the power of my mind", but that doesn't explain what incredible talents he possesses to allow him to ascertain that he was being invited to comment on a story he couldn't read in the first place.

Scientific explanations as to how the "BBC high-speed telepathic news feed" works are welcomed. ®

Bootnote

Before you lot start banging on about "what about internet at work or in a library", here's the Beeb's clarification on the group who want nothing to do with the interwebs: "This so-called self-excluded group tended to be older or retired, with 61% confessing to never having used a computer."

It continues: "For 30% of those currently offline the main reasons given for that choice was financial or lack of skills."

So, nothing to do with just not having a net connection at home.