NEW DIVIDE BETWEEN HAVES AND HAVE-NOTS?

If there was any lingering doubt that the computer has become ensconced as a member of the American family, it was dispelled at the turn of the year by some startling statistics. For the first time ever, consumers in 1994 bought $8 billion worth of PCs -- just a smidgen away from the $8.3 billion they spent on TVs. The sales record in terms of dollars is bound to fall to the computer soon, though the TV's cheaper price guarantees its dominion in numbers for a while yet.

In the nation's poorer areas, however -- places like Washington's Anacostia neighborhood,...