by Charles S. Clark

About the author: Charles S. Clark is a staff writer for the CQ Researcher, a weekly news and research publication of Congressional Quarterly, Inc.

An unintended consequence of the information revolution, according to many observers, is the widening gap between the information haves and have-nots. It has been dubbed “the civil rights and economic rights issue of the 21st century,” “information apartheid” and “electronic redlining.”

Computer Haves and Have-Nots

Currently [as of 1995] only 10 percent of Americans have the know-how and $1,000-plus worth of equipment—computer, modem, telephone connection and gateway software—needed to cruise the information superhighway. A survey by PC World concluded that households with incomes of $50,000 and up are five times more likely than others to own a personal computer and...