This is a paper being presented at the upcoming Telecommunications Policy Research Conference: Race, Place, and Information Technology By Karen Mossberger and Caroline J. Tolbert http://intel.si.umich.edu/tprc/archive-search-abstract.cfm?PaperID=184 Two points in the paper mirror what I've been saying and experiencing forever: 1. "Social networks facilitate technology use, according to our survey. Computers and the Internet are used far more frequently at the homes of friends or relatives than at public access sites. Twenty percent of all respondents reported using computers and the Internet at the homes of others, and twenty-four percent of respondents without home computers relied on friends and relatives. This is about 10 percentage points higher than rates of usage of public access computers at libraries (Mossberger, Tolbert, and Stansbury 2003). Informal processes of learning about computers and their uses may be as significant as public access and formal training." 2. "Race and ethnicity influence attitudes toward technology, in a surprising way. African-Americans had more positive attitudes toward information technology than similarly-situated white respondents, across a range of questions. While over 2/3 of Americans view the Internet and computers as important for keeping up with the times, or as important for economic opportunity, African Americans are significantly more likely to agree with these statements. They are also more likely than whites to be willing to learn new computer skills in a variety of ways, and are more willing to use public access sites for computers and the Internet. In terms of actual behavior, we found that African-Americans are more likely than whites to have used computers for job search or to have taken an online course. Our findings agree with other survey research on Internet job search (Pew 2000), but our analysis shows that these racial differences are statistically significant even after controlling for differences in income and education. Ethnic differences are less pronounced, but Latinos are more likely than whites to say that the Internet is necessary to keep up with the times, and are more willing than white respondents to take computer classes to learn new skills. Otherwise, their attitudes differ little from white respondents in the sample. Taken together, these statements show a fairly consistent pattern of positive attitudes about information technology for African Americans especially, as well as Latinos. Some other studies have also shown that African- Americans, Latinos, and urban residents are among the Internet nonusers who are most likely to say they will use the Internet someday (Lenhart 2003). Because apathy is an insufficient explanation for racial and ethnic differences, and individual income is also insufficient to account for these differences, environmental influences may be at work." Art McGee Principal Consultant Virtual Identity Communications+Media+Technology 1-510-967-9381