Computer Access Inches Upward, Internet Use Soars in State |
|
CONTACT: Peter Schirmer FRANKFORT, KY (July 20, 1998) — A recent statewide survey conducted for the Kentucky Long-Term Policy Research Center by the University of Kentucky Survey Research Center finds that citizens of the Commonwealth are moving rapidly into the Information Age. While access to computers has only inched upward over the past two years, Internet exploration has soared across the Commonwealth. In 1996, the Kentucky Long-Term Policy Research Center reported that 32 percent of surveyed adults in Kentucky said they had a personal computer in their homes, and another 33 percent did not have a computer at home but had access to one at work, at school or elsewhere. Thus, a total of 65 percent of adults in Kentucky had access to a personal computer somewhere. In a survey completed in the spring of 1998, we found that the share of adults with a computer at home had risen from 32 percent to 41 percent. However, the share of adults with access to a computer anywhere had barely changed, from 65 percent to 68 percent, suggesting that more of those who had access to a computer outside the home two years ago now have their own computers. The 1996 survey also examined Internet use in the state, which shows a much more interesting trend emerging over the past two years.(1) In 1996, the Center found that about 26 percent of adults in Kentucky had used the Internet in past years. In 1998, rates of Internet access had increased to 41.8 percent. Two years ago, the Center found that younger people and more educated people were the most likely to have accessed the Internet. While that remains true, Internet use has soared at all age and education levels. Moreover, regional disparities in Internet use have virtually disappeared, with the exception of eastern Kentucky, which continues to lag the rest of the state. Low Internet usage in eastern Kentucky may be explained by lower rates of home computer ownership. Computer users at home are more likely to have accessed the Internet than computer users at work, school or elsewhere. Two years ago, the Center also reported that industry analysts were expecting computer ownership rates to stabilize around 40 percent of households by the end of the decade. However, shortly thereafter personal computer prices began a steady decline, from an average selling price of about $1,750 in the summer of 1996 to about $1,250 by the beginning of 1998. Given this new affordability, computer ownership has begun to rise again. Business Week recently called the personal computer “the Model T of the Digital Age.” Industry analysts now think computer ownership may reach 60 percent by the early part of the next decade. Forrester Research Inc. reports that the median income of people planning to buy a personal computer is $27,000, compared to $50,000 for current computer owners. Even as price barriers fall—low end PCs may cost as little as $600 by the end of the year—other barriers, including those related to age and education, may persist. Households are selected using random-digit dialings, a procedure giving every residential telephone line in Kentucky an equal probability of being called. The sample included 658 noninstitutionalized Kentuckians 18 years of age or older, yielding a margin of error of 3.8 percent at the 95 percent confidence level. 1. Estimates of Internet use for both 1996 and 1998 are age and education adjustments of the raw numbers. The raw rates of use were 25.6 percent in 1996 and 40.6 percent in 1998. Figure 1: Percent of Kentucky Adults With Access
to a Computer at Home, Work, School, or Elsewhere |
