MCLEAN, VA – It's official: The Internet is a part of daily life.

According to a new report by the Census Bureau, Internet use tripled from 1997 to 2007.

Sixty-two percent of U.S. households used the Internet from home; 18% did that in 1997.

Among those using the Internet in 2007, 82% did so using a high-speed connection. Just 17% used dial-up.

The rapid rise of broadband shows how quickly a ubiquitous technology like dial-up, which ruled the online world in the 1990s, can become outmoded, says Morton O'Kelly, chairman of Ohio State University's department of geography.

Other findings:

• Mississippi and West Virginia had some of the lowest rates of Internet use in 2007 — around 52%. Alaska and New Hampshire, where people live in a handful of cities, were among the highest, 76.1% and 74.6%, respectively.

• For individuals 25 and older with a bachelor's degree, 87% used the Internet.
  Those without a high school diploma: 19%.

• 69% of whites lived in a home with Internet use; so did 73% of Asians, 51% of blacks and 48% of Hispanics.

Copyright 2009 USA Today. All rights reserved. From http://www.usatoday.com. By Leslie Cauley.
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