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Report finds nearly all kids have used Internet

 
Published Sept. 20, 2004|Updated Aug. 28, 2005

(Final edited version not provided for the electronic library. Please see microfilm.)

The digital divide has narrowed to the point that nearly all children, regardless of ethnicity and family income, have used the Internet.

Now, the issue is more about how often children log on, where and at what age.

These are the findings of a report by the Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation, a nonprofit group that focuses on health issues.

The study shows evidence of significant progress in improving the access of low-income and minority children to the Internet during the past few years. But the group says that more can be done.

"The question is about the quality of the Internet access and the experience," said Vicky Rideout, a vice president for the Kaiser Family Foundation of Menlo Park, Calif., and director of its program for the study of entertainment, media and health. "That's where you see a continuing divide _ less visible but more intransigent."

Among the key findings is that 96 percent of all children ages 8 to 18 have been online at least once. That number varies by only a few percentage points when broken down by ethnicity and family income.

The Kaiser study didn't cover previous years to see how children's current Internet use compares with earlier patterns. However, a separate survey by the U.S. Department of Education found that only 60 percent of students had used the Internet in 2001.

Kaiser found that the current gap becomes much larger when looking at whether the children have Internet access at home, according to the Kaiser study. The survey found that 80 percent of whites have such access, compared with 67 percent of Hispanics and 61 percent of blacks.

AOL to get more personal with home page

America Online reportedly is redesigning its welcome page, for members only.

A mockup makes it appear more portallike, giving users the opportunity to personalize the page with content choices such as weather, news and movie listings. The page also includes icons across the top, linking to services such as e-mail, instant messaging and search, according to a report by CNet. A spokeswoman for AOL, part of Time Warner, told the online news service that beta testing is under way.

A test version of a new AOL shopping service is also on the Web at pinpointshopping.com. It's expected that America Online will announce the new service soon, the New York Times reported.

Firefox Web browser set for release this year

Another version of the Firefox Web browser was released by the Mozilla Foundation, the open-source offspring of developers who worked with Netscape Communications.

The "preview" version of Firefox 1.0 includes features that are expected in the final release, due out this year. Among them are a built-in newsreader for RSS (Really Simple Syndication) feeds and greater compatibility with Web sites built for display by Microsoft's Internet Explorer browser.

Along with the free download, the Mozilla Foundation kicked off a publicity campaign for itself with the goal of generating 1-million downloads in the next 10 days.

According to the foundation's SpreadFirefox.com marketing Web site, "More then 80,000 Web sites already link to the Firefox page, with an additional 200,000 linking to mozilla.org."

Compiled from Times wires.