One-third of Americans in 'tech elite,' survey finds

NEW YORK -- Technology geeks, unite. There are more of you thanyou might have realized.

A study released Sunday found that 31 percent of Americans are"highly tech-savvy" people for whom the Internet, cell phones andhandheld organizers are more indispensable than TVs and old-fashioned wired phones.

John Horrigan, author of the report by the Pew Internet &American Life Project, said the size of this "tech elite" wassomewhat surprising. And while this group is predominantly young,the Pew researchers found plenty of baby boomers and seniors who areequally ardent about using technology.

The difference, though, is that techies in their late teens and20s are more likely to create online content, like Web logs, or"blogs." Generation Xers are more likely to pay for content on theWeb, while wired boomers and seniors generally plumb the Internetfor news or to do work-related research.

So are you part of the "tech elite"? Consider these other Pewfindings about how they live:

* They spend, on average, a total of $169 a month on broadbandInternet service, satellite or cable TV, cell phones and Webcontent. That is 39 percent higher than the national average, $122.

* Some 29 percent of them have broadband connections, comparedwith 17 percent of everyone else.

* About 7 percent of technology aficionados have canceled theirlandline phone and gone all-wireless. Only 2 percent of nontechieshave done that.

* Despite being plugged in to the Internet more often, only 13percent of the tech-savvy crowd feels overwhelmed by information.