When the telephone was invented — perhaps by Alexander Graham Bell but confusingly maybe not — one thing was clear: Unless more than one person had a telephone, the technology wasn't terribly useful. As adoption of the telephone device and its infrastructure accelerated, the network effect kicked in, and its usefulness grew quickly as more and more people and businesses had them and people could call one another.

Today's Internet is, in many ways, similar because people with slower connections are unable to participate as fully as those who enjoy faster broadband connections. One example is using a webcam and the video capabilities of Skype or iChat. Viewing someone over a dial-up connection is essentially impossible and, over a slower DSL connection, nothing short of painful in its slowness and stuttering video playback.

Readers of MinnPost are most likely broadband users and thus you're someone who'd be interested or involved in Internet and web-centric technology and services for your work, school or personal use. As such, the latest findings of the Pew Research Center's Internet & American Life Project should be of significant interest to you and will point to how fundamentally important the Internet and web have become to Americans.

This report illustrates a departure from data that were showing a stagnation in home high-speed adoption rates that had taken place from December 2007 through December 2008. During that period, Pew Research surveys found that home broadband penetration remained in a narrow range between 54 percent and 57 percent.

The greatest growth in broadband adoption in the past year has taken place among population subgroups that have below average usage rates. Among them:

· Senior citizens: Broadband usage among adults 65 or older grew from 19 percent in May 2008 to 30 percent in April 2009.

· Low-income Americans: Two groups of low-income Americans saw strong broadband growth from 2008 to 2009.

· Respondents living in households whose annual household income is $20,000 or less, saw broadband adoption grow from 25 percent in 2008 to 35 percent in 2009.

· Respondents living in households whose annual incomes are between $20,000 and $30,000 annually experienced a growth in broadband penetration from 42 percent to 53 percent.

Overall, respondents reporting that they live in homes with annual household incomes below $30,000 experienced a 34 percent growth in home broadband adoption from 2008 to 2009.

· High-school graduates: Among adults whose highest level of educational attainment is a high school degree, broadband adoption grew from 40 percent in 2008 to 52 percent in 2009.

· Older baby boomers: Among adults ages 50 to 64, broadband usage increased from 50 percent in 2008 to 61 percent in 2009.

· Rural Americans: Adults living in rural America had home high-speed usage grow from 38 percent in 2008 to 46percent in 2009.

The Pew Internet Project's April 2009 survey interviewed 2,253 Americans, with 561 interviewed on their cell phones.

As I read the report, it was clear that this acceleration in broadband adoption is being driven by a number of variables: the current economic downturn, which is causing people to aggressively seek alternatives, efficiency and cost savings; friends, family and colleagues online (many using social media) creating compelling reasons for people to want to connect online; along with a continuing growth of online services in news, information, entertainment and more.

All that said, the important thing to you is that people are increasingly online at home and participating. As you and I increasingly adopt ever-more-robust (and bandwidth-intensive) products and services online, faster speeds will mean we'll be able to do more in less time and be fully involved as an Internet citizen.