ABSTRACT
This chapter examines some of the differences that exist between groups in the extent of access to and use of it in the home and in education. In particular, it will consider variations that exist in terms of gender, age and socio-economic group. Although there has been a significant growth in the use of information technologies in the workplace, in education and even in the home, the technologically deterministic prediction of it bringing about fundamental social change has failed to materialize. The growth in access to these three domestic technologies exhibits strikingly different patterns over this period. Survey data on home access to technologies often fails to identify which members of the household make use of particular items of equipment. Market research surveys and studies of adult students, teenagers and children have consistently found that males are more likely than females to have access to a computer and to spend more time using a computer at home.
