Internet use triples '97 to '07

According to a new report by the Census Bureau, Internet use tripled from 1997 to 2007. Sixty-two percent of U.S. households used the Internet from home; 18% did that in 1997. Among those using the Internet in 2007, 82% did so using a high-speed connection. Just 17% used dial-up. The rapid rise of broadband shows how quickly a ubiquitous technology like dial-up, which ruled the online world in the 1990s, can become outmoded, says Morton O'Kelly, chairman of Ohio State University's department of geography. Internet usage still varies by race; 69 percent of whites lived in households with Internet use, while the same was true for 51 percent of blacks, 73 percent of Asians and 48 percent of Hispanics