"The most elite users have clearly adopted a broadband lifestyle that is built around finding, generating and manipulating digital content," said Lee Rainie, director of the Pew Internet & American Life Project.

"They are shaping the character of the online world every day."

In its survey titled "The Broadband Difference," Pew researchers gauged the attitudes and behavior of 507 adult members of the steadily growing home broadband population.

Since Pew began examining users of cable and digital subscriber line Internet connections two years ago, the number of home broadband users has risen from 6 million to 24 million.

About 21 percent of all Americans with home Net connections are now hooked up via these faster, always-on electronic pipes, the nonprofit institute estimates.

Despite widespread complaints that service providers have been slow to roll out home broadband offerings, Pew researchers said adoption rates mirror those of other popular technologies, including the compact disc player and the personal computer itself. Broadband is being embraced by consumers more rapidly than color TVs and VCRs.

Usage patterns

With the expanded adoption of broadband, a dramatic shift in usage patterns is taking place, the report found.

"The extra time spent online due to broadband - and the wider range of online activities done by broadband users - comes at the expense of the use of traditional media," the Pew study says.

All told, 37 percent said their Internet use has decreased the time they spend watching television, and 18 percent reported that Internet use decreased their time reading newspapers.

Meanwhile, broadband home users are more inclined than typical dial-up users to create Web content, share files with other Internet users, conduct research, seek out news, buy products and perform work-related duties, the survey found.

Typical broadband users perform an average of seven Internet activities on any given day - more than twice the number of a typical dial-up customer.

And, the survey shows, the constant Internet connection is just as important to them as its speed.

When a computer with high-speed Net connection is within reach, Pew found, users are more likely to weave it into their everyday behavior. Activities such as checking movie times, ferreting out recipes, settling friendly arguments over factoids and conducting health-related research all increase in frequency, the survey shows.

"Broadband users drive in both directions on the information superhighway," said John B. Horrigan, Pew senior research specialist.

"With their tendencies to create and post online content, they value not only fast uploading speeds, but also an open Internet. This allows them to reach the widest audience for their content and gives them the greatest range of sources to satisfy their voracious appetite for information."

In general, home broadband households are jam-packed with gizmos, the survey says. About 69 percent have more than one computer and 40 percent have three or more distributed throughout the living space. More than half of the households, 55 percent, have woven their computers into a home network.

The Pew study found that a home broadband connection results in more work being done at home. About one-third of respondents said they telecommute.

At the same time, a majority of broadband users do not believe that the Internet has decreased time spent with family, friends or attending social events. In fact, the study says, broadband adopters generally believe that fast connections have helped them stay in touch with friends and loved ones.

"Broadband users are as likely to go online to get job training as they are to download a video," the Pew researchers said. "To be sure, both applications will benefit from the faster technologies of the future, but the speed of today's high-speed networks is sufficient to attract growing numbers of users to current applications and features that give them the information that matters to them."

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