The Gartner Group has conducted a survey of some 45,000 households across the US, looking at what it describes as the three information technologies that are changing the ability of people to work from home. The survey covered the use of personal computers, cellular telephones and facsimile by household members, both at home and at work. Gartner says that the residents of 52% of the households do not use of any of these technologies, even at work, and only among 3% of the respondents is there some use of all three. Just over a fifth use personal computers in the home, but only 7% use cellular telephones. However, 42% of households admit to the use of personal computers at work or elsewhere, and the survey goes on to analyse that section of households, and the data compares and contrasts ownership, the place and type of use. Overall, 39% use only computers owned by household members, 41% use employer-owned computers, and 20% use computers owned by household members and employers. According to Gartner, households that own computers are more likely to use them for personal use only, or perhaps in conjunction with self-employment activities. However, about 14% of such households will perform work on behalf of their employers, despite not having access to the employers’ computers. Only 7% of households use a cellular phone, and of those, 14% are computer owners. By age bracket, cellular use is highest and equally prevalent in households under 30, between 30 to 39, and 40 to 49 age groups, and not surprisingly, least prevalent in the over-60 bracket. In households with income below $20,000 annually, cellular use is below 2.5%, while in households with income over $100,000, the figure jumps to 25%. Regarding facsimile usage, in about 16% of fax-using households, the unit is owned outright by the household.
