A report released Thursday found that more people than ever are using and seeking information from the Internet, and that Colorado has moved from seventh to fifth in the nation for computer ownership.
“It’s particularly embraced and definitely a pattern we saw in Western states who may be more technology oriented,” said Lee Rainie, project director for the Pew Internet and American Life Project, a nonprofit and nonpartisan organization that studies how people across the country use the computer non-commercially in their lives.
Data about Internet and computer use was collected in 2003 during a Current Population Survey that showed 40 percent of the nation’s adults went online to get information about news, weather and sports, compared with 7 percent in 1997.
In 2003, Colorado ranked fifth in the nation, with 70.3 percent of its population owning computers, compared with 64.4 percent in 2001. In 2003, Internet access in the state ranked third in the nation at 63.4 percent, compared with 58.2 percent in 2001.
Colorado’s interest in computers is attributed to an increase of technology-related businesses that have grown during the past decade.
“People who use technology at work tend to use technology at home,” said Brian Vogt, executive director of the state office of Economic Development and International Trade.
The strongest period for computer use in the country happened during the mid- to late 1990s, according to officials who track the data.
Internet usage may have surged because businesses, government agencies and people who are going online daily to get information on just about any topic, use it for help with homework, shopping, listening to music and communicating by using e-mail.
Although computer use grew in Colorado, there still are people who don’t own or have access to a computer while others have more than one.
Ramszey Smith of Aurora spent his lunch hour Thursday at the Denver Public Library getting information about his bank account. He owns two computers at home, but didn’t want to conduct personal business while on the job.
“To be able to access information anytime, anywhere, about anything opens the world to you,” Smith said.
Staff writer Annette Espinoza can be reached at 303-820-1655 or aespinoza@denverpost.com.
