FALLING THROUGH THE NET: DEFINING THE DIGITAL DIVIDE
The U.S. Department of Commerce recently released "Falling Through the Net: Defining the Digital Divide." This is the third in a series of reports beginning in 1995 on which American households have access to telephones, computers and the Internet. The most recent report is based on a Census Bureau survey conducted in 1998 of 48,000 households.

Excerpts from the Report's Executive Summary:
--More Americans than ever have access to telephones, computers and the Internet. However, the "digital divide" separating American information "haves" and "have nots" has increased in many instances in the last year.

--At the end of 1998, over 40 percent of American households owned computers, and one-quarter of all households had Internet access.

--Households with incomes of $75,000 and higher are more than twenty time more likely to have access to the Internet than those at the lowest income levels, and more than nine times as likely to have a computer at home.

--Whites are more likely to have access to the Internet from home than Blacks or Hispanics have from any location.

--Black and Hispanic households are approximately one-third as likely to have home Internet access as households of Asian/Pacific Islander decent, and roughly two-fifths as likely as White households.

--Regardless of income levels, Americans living in rural areas are lagging behind in Internet access. Those in urban areas are more than twice as likely to have Internet access than those earning the same income in rural areas.

--The gaps between White and Hispanic households, and between White and Black households, are now more than six percentage points larger than they were in 1994.

--School, libraries and other public access points are particularly well used by those groups who lack access at home or at work.

--The digital divides based on education and income level have also increased in the past year. Between 1997 and 1998, the divide between those at the highest and lowest education levels increased 25 percent, and the divide between those at the highest and lowest income levels grew 29 percent.

--The digital divide at the higher income levels between Whites and Blacks narrowed considerably in the past year. This finding suggests that the most affluent American families, irrespective of race, are connecting to the Internet.

The report can be downloaded at http://www.ntia.doc.gov/ntiahome/digitaldivide/. Additional charts, a link to the Census data and the survey instrument can be obtained at http://www.ntia.doc.gov. ____________________________________________________________
Technology Tidbits is published monthly by Jerry Price, Eau Claire, Wisconsin © 1999 Jerry W. Price

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