Homeless and Online in San Francisco →
In America today, even people without street addresses feel compelled to have Internet addresses, but staying wired on the streets takes determination. (See related article.)
Charles Pitts checks the Internet at the H2O Cafe on Polk Street in San Francisco. Mr. Pitts, 37, says he has been homeless for two years.
Mr. Pitts goes online at the Transbay Terminal. He has accounts on Facebook, MySpace and Twitter. He runs an Internet forum on Yahoo, reads news online and keeps in touch with friends via email.
From his home under the freeway, Mr. Pitts can get a signal, but the lack of a power outlet means he has to use his computer sparingly.
Mr. Ross connects his laptop computer to the generator. He can go online using a PC card that provides wireless Internet access. Mr. Ross spends about $4-$5 a day in gas for his generator, and can spend as much as $66 a month for the Internet access.
Skip Schreiber, 64, gets online in his van, which is also his home, in the Bayview district of San Francisco. For his 60th birthday, he dipped into his monthly disability check to buy a laptop, connected it to his car battery, and taught himself to use it.
On the Street and On Facebook: The Homeless Stay Wired
Like most San Franciscans, Charles Pitts is wired. Mr. Pitts, who is 37 years old, has accounts on Facebook, MySpace and Twitter. He runs an Internet forum on Yahoo, reads news online and keeps in touch with friends via email. The tough part is managing this digital lifestyle from his residence under a highway bridge.
“You don’t need a TV. You don’t need a radio. You don’t even need a newspaper,” says Mr. Pitts, an aspiring poet in a purple cap and yellow fleece jacket, who says he has been homeless for two years. “But you need the Internet.”
Mr. Pitts’s experience shows how deeply computers and the Internet have permeated society. A few years ago, some people were worrying that a “digital divide” would separate technology haves and have-nots. The poorest lack the means to buy computers and Web access. Still, in America today, even people without street addresses feel compelled to have Internet addresses.
Source: Wall Street Journal
Images: Brian L. Frank for the Wall Street Journal
