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Another key finding: 40 percent of respondents say that "immediate access" to chosen content is very important to them, suggesting a shift from owning videos to accessing programming on demand. Most importantly, Ericsson says that service providers must devise ways to align consumer spending and usage. Thanks to the "everything should be free" Internet mindset and a growing shift to TV consumption on PCs, traditional service providers risk seeing the value of their offerings diminished. Yet, "if done right," Ericsson argues, "consumers will reallocate their TV spending to new alternatives."

"It's bad for us, but it sure is fun," said Eric Bautista, 13, one of the students in Sister Jolene Schmitz's junior high school class at Resurrection School in Sunnyvale, Calif.

r, the Apple computer and the Atari video game all were invented. They spend their days (and nights) surfing the Web, playing online games and instant messaging. Most have cell phones in their backpacks. And many have at least one parent who works in the electronics industry.

Yet, when asked to weigh the benefits of having high technology in their lives versus the costs -- intellectually, emotionally, socially -- of that technology, the class voted 31-3 negative … a ratio so extreme that it argues against an aberration and toward a larger question about the overall impact of technology on the lives of our young people.

All of that has changed. I suspect some new architects wouldn’t know how to design a 50-story building on paper (without aid of a CAD program), or a doctor who had to diagnose a patient without the reliance on ordering 10 or 15 lab tests. Or a politician who couldn’t rely on instant polling techniques. Or citizens who had to resort to reading their news, instead of watching in on TV. Or an important stock exchange not being able to function because generators were never meant to be used full-time, indefinitely.

But as our thirst for power increases, and our infrastructure fails to keep pace with it

As a tool, a computer is a useful aid. It has helped architects and engineers design and provide more reliable, interesting structures and buildings. It allows us to split atoms, and categorize human genomes.

The advancement of technology can be quite spoiling. With word processors, the internet and web messaging, our daily lives are much smoother and less stressful when we use computers and other electronic devises that categorize our schedules and plans better than our own memory.

About 23 million households in North America have a broadband connection, and over the next five years, that number is likely to triple.

eb with me wherever I go has two sides. I do enjoy being able to read my e-mail, talk to people, and lately, check the o

A fear of many Web analysts and observers is that today's teenagers, who have never known a world without the Web, will become fixated on instant communication for all their socializing

Despite the ongoing concerns of identity theft, viruses, spam, and fraud, most people successfully use the Web to meet their wants and needs.

Many children want to read books on digital devices and would read for fun more frequently if they could obtain e-books. But even if they had that access, two-thirds of them would not want to give up their traditional print books.

Parents and educators have long worried that digital diversions like video games and cellphones cut into time that children spend reading. However, they see the potential for using technology to their advantage, introducing books to digitally savvy children through e-readers, computers and mobile devices.

But many parents surveyed also expressed deep concerns about the distractions of video games, cellphones and television in their children’s lives. They also wondered if the modern multi-tasking adolescent had the patience to become engrossed in a long novel. “My daughter can’t stop texting long enough to concentrate on a book,” said one parent surveyed, the mother of a 15-year-old in Texas. Another survey participant, the mother of a 7-year-old Michigan boy, said, “I am afraid my son’s attention span will only include fast-moving ideas, and book reading will become boring to him.”

If there was any doubt that computers and technology are taking over the lives of Americans, it was dispelled Monday by two studies -- one noting that most Americans spend more time with their computers than with their spouses, the other revealing many drivers are e-mailing and instant messaging while driving.

"Technology is one of the greatest DWD culprits," the insurance firm said, noting that younger drivers are most likely to drive while multitasking.