BAY SHORE resident Linda ##### didn't have a computer or an Internet connection at home last year. But since she got a computer for Christmas, she has been devoted to sharing information and learning from others. Linda, who connects to the Internet using WebTV, said she averages about three hours a day developing Web pages, visiting newsgroups and sending e-mail. She has designed about 10 pages on her pets, her recovery from cancer, a dedication for a friend's wedding, different ideas for Halloween costumes, poetry and other thoughts she feels like communicating to the rest of the Internet society. "I always liked writing," said Linda, 42, an office manager at a plumbing company. "I like the idea that it just gets out there for everybody; I think it benefits me and hopefully it benefits other people."

Long Islanders like Linda are embracing the Internet at a higher rate than national averages, according to the latest Newsday/Hofstra poll. In fact, households on Long Island have passed a significant threshold: More than half of the area's homes now have access to the Internet. A Newsday/Hofstra poll conducted in September found that 68.2 percent of Long Island homes surveyed have a computer, while 80.7 percent of those PCs are connected to the Internet. That means about 55 percent of all Long Island households are connected to the Internet. The poll has a margin of error of 3.5 percentage points. Forrester Research of Cambridge, Mass., currently estimates that nearly 50 percent of households nationwide have computers, while close to 40 percent have Internet access. "It puts us on par with Silicon Valley, Route 128 around Boston, high-tech belt around D.C. Consumers using the Web aren't just high-income technology "optimists" who gravitate toward new gadgets, "The average American is coming online,".
This area is also primed for high-speed Internet access, with cable-modem connections available to 80 percent of households through local cable TV systems -- four times the national average. But less than 10 percent of the Long Island households with Internet access surveyed said they were connected to the Internet via cable modems, phone-based DSL technology or any other type of high-speed hookup. People have adopted the Internet at much faster rates than other technologies such as compact disc players and color TVs because of its many new features, such as add-ons that allow people to instantly send messages back and forth. And like many other types of technologies, as the prices have come down, the home-penetration rate has increased. "It's not just a new way of doing things; it's redefining how we do things," said vice president at NPD Group Inc., a Port Washington-based market research business. Long Island's demographics likely play a strong role in consumer adoption, "Two of the top things driving Internet use is income and education," both rank high in Long Island's demographic profile. In part, Long Islanders can credit the space age for their high usage of cyberspace. Long Island's once-dominant aviation industry created communications hubs in communities like Hempstead, Islip, Hauppauge and Farmingdale. When area users log on to various Internet providers, they often are dialing phone numbers in one of these hubs.
But not all Long Island residents are enjoying the computer age. Despite the plummeting PC prices, they remain out of reach for some, as does Internet access, which has gotten cheaper -- about $20 a month for unlimited service. "People spend an inordinate amount of time on the Internet without getting anything done," said a Central Islip retiree on a fixed income. He also noted that as a child, he didn't watch television until he was 7 years old, by which time he had already learned to enjoy reading. But now, he plans to buy a computer in the next few months so that his 16-year-old daughter will have marketable job skills. His daughter's school has computers. "I don't want my daughter to be computer illiterate". "I can't imagine a job where she wouldn't have to be familiar with a computer." But on Long Island and the rest of the country, the rate of increase in computer use is not equal when factors like ethnic, racial and income factors are considered, according to years of research. Whites are more likely than minorities to enjoy Internet access at home in what is known as the Digital Divide. On Long Island, nearly 56.7 percent of whites are online at home, compared with 42.4 percent of blacks and 38.9 percent of Hispanics, according to the Newsday/Hofstra poll. Nationally, the gap between the haves and have-nots is growing, according to the National Telecommunications and Information Administration, an agency of the U.S. Department of Commerce. In 1997, 21.2 percent of white households had Internet access, about 13 percentage points more than blacks and Hispanics. Last year, whites outpaced blacks and Hispanics by about 20 percentage points, according to the agency. Income is one of the major forces driving the difference in Internet usage among the races. Among all Long Islanders, households with incomes of at least $75,000 were two times more likely to have a computer and nearly three times more likely to have Internet access than those with incomes of less than $30,000, according to the Newsday/Hofstra poll. But within a given income bracket, such as those making less than $30,000, Internet usage is roughly the same among whites, Hispanics and blacks. Newcomers to the Internet, however, are changing the demographics. Nearly a quarter of them earned less than $30,000 a year, while one in six of the Internet veterans fall into that income bracket, according to a nationwide survey released in January by The Pew Research Center. People with no college education and women are increasingly jumping online, the Pew Research survey of 3,184 adults found. Still, Web users overall are younger, more educated and wealthier than the U.S. population at large, the Pew survey found. Nevertheless, the shifting demographics are changing the way people use the Internet. Newcomers go online less frequently, and when they do, they surf the Web more often for fun, not work.
Some national policies are trying to bridge the Digital Divide. A federally run program called "E-Rate" is designed to pay for connections to schools and libraries so eventually everyone, even those without home PCs, can use the Web. Many schools throughout the area have participated in the program. Some companies also are setting up programs. Cablevision Systems Corp., based in Bethpage, has promised to provide free high-speed Internet connections for up to 25 computers at each of Long Island's public and private schools. So far, 85 schools have signed up for the company's free services. The company also sells packages with additional or customized enhanced Internet services. The service is being rolled out across the Island gradually because the company has to upgrade its cable wires. The Internet is also becoming a fixture at the workplace. Among the 476 poll respondents who said they use a computer at work, 53.7 percent of them also use the Internet. But some bosses are concerned productivity may be lost as people surf the Web on personal business at work. President of Metropolitan Electric Co. in Amityville, uses the Internet at work for personal reasons, but doesn't want employees to emulate him. "I frown against it, but it's really difficult to control," he said of employees using the Internet at work for personal use. About 7.8 percent of the 248 people who responded to the question said they spend an hour or more at work doing personal activities. A 36-year-old medical biller, who did not want her name used, said she spends two to three hours a day using the Internet for personal reasons when her boss isn't in the office. "It's very addicting once you start," she said. "It's a trip." The Oceanside resident said she loves the New York Mets and is constantly visiting baseball-related Web sites and message boards while at work. "Do a little billing ... surf the Net," she said. She said she manages to complete her daily tasks and uses her lunch hour and arrives early to work just to search the Web. Others, however, are concerned about employees' liberties when companies use monitoring software and equipment. "I don't think it's an employer's job to babysit," said the chief operating officer of Anonymizer, a company based in San Diego that has a Web-based service that allows Net users to bypass blocking and monitoring processes. "The only way to gauge an employee's success is on their productivity."
In the poll, using the Internet for research topped other purposes among Long Islanders. Nearly 28 percent polled had made at least one purchase on the Internet in the past year. Books and music was by far the most popular type of purchase, although Long Islanders are starting to use the Internet to purchase everything from food to car parts. Hauppauge resident said he had tried several stores and even music companies to find a Dionne Warwick compact disc that he had wanted, but with no luck. But then he found the "Finder of Lost Loves" title through eBay, a popular Internet auction site. "[The Internet] hasn't displaced the mall, but it is a great place to go and get things,". He also said he has been using the Internet much more for business and pleasure ever since he upgraded his computer modem to nearly double its previous speed. "It's another addiction," he figures he has cut back on the amount of time he watches television to spend it on the Internet instead. Even those without a PC see it as an indispensable tool.
A 37-year-old homemaker of Kew Gardens Hills, doesn't have a computer but is considering buying one. President of the parents' association at her children's elementary, said it would help her print fliers for the group as well as to conduct other personal business, such as collecting recipes or shopping.. "It's a very interesting tool to have right now, just like the telephone was 50 years ago," she said.

Staff Writers Christopher Franke and Elaine Wu contributed to this story.