CLOSING THE `INFORMATION GAP' IS TOUGH, BUT CRUCIAL.

Byline: Bill Gates 

If you believe, as I do, that personal computer networks will dramatically improve educational and other opportunities, it's natural to worry about people who may not have access to the technology for a long time.

How will they compete, or even keep up?

On the other hand, if you believe that PCs and the Internet are overblown phenomena that won't really have much impact, then lack of access wouldn't seem to be much of a problem.

Because I'm firmly in the first camp, I believe information technology should be widely available. This isn't really any different than my attitude about books, medicine and other positive technologies: The more people who can have them, the better.

But I'm also a realist. Some people are bound to get better information technology than others, just as some inevitably have better access to food, shelter, transportation, medical care, education and entertainment.

Political and community leaders are right to be concerned about a potential gap between information ``haves'' and ``have-nots.'' Access to information is fundamental to success nowadays, and everybody should have the opportunity to use PCs and Internet connections.

It's not just the poor who are vulnerable to being left behind. Rural people, minority communities and senior citizens are at risk too. Seniors may need to be encouraged - to be reassured that they are entirely capable of using these new machines and that their efforts will be well-rewarded.

I grew up during the Vietnam War, which among other things pitted one generation against another in the United States. I've seen the turmoil that exists when one generation, or one portion of our society, perceives the world quite differently than another.

But the potential for an ``Information Gap,'' between different economic levels or different generations, shouldn't discourage anyone from taking advantage of PCs and the Internet. Forgoing the advantages of information technology won't help promote equal access.

Fortunately, time will help. Inequalities often smooth out somewhat over time, given changes in technology and the evolving marketplace. But thinking of this as a solution requires patience.

Reading books regularly was once the prerogative of the rich, because assembling a personal library was expensive. It took decades of public and private cooperation, in the United States and elsewhere, to build public libraries into the extensive, free community resources they are today.

In many neighborhoods, such as the one I grew up in, almost everybody frequents the library. About half the U.S. population uses one or more of the country's 16,000 library branches, which are twice as numerous as McDonald's restaurants - a statistic that surprised me, since there seems to be a McDonald's everywhere I turn.

Libraries are a smart way to subsidize public access to information, because the investment benefits a community of people - and on a completely even-handed basis, with no stigma attached. No one says to somebody who uses a library, ``Oh, you can't afford your own books.''

Some sources of information have never been subsidized, except through libraries. Newspapers are cheap enough that nobody suggests free ones for the poor, and the purchase of television sets isn't subsidized either - but then, televisions are relatively affordable.

Personal computers are getting more affordable, too. Fully equipped PCs - not mere Internet terminals - can now be had for about $1,000 in the United States.

The PC industry is pursuing a Henry Ford-type of approach that assumes that the product must become both more powerful and less expensive if an ever-broader marketplace is to embrace it. Great progress has been made, but it will be many years before virtually everyone in a developed country has a PC - and many decades before PCs are ubiquitous in developing nations.

In the meantime, the same libraries that serve communities with books, newspapers, magazines and even videos can also serve the computing and electronic-information needs of citizens. Libraries, schools and community centers can be access points for everybody.

Before large-scale investment makes sense, though, a host of questions must be answered. Here are a few examples.

Should libraries charge for electronic services, the way they do for photocopies?

Will having a library or community-center PC connected to the Internet encourage new people to come in, or will the connection mostly prove a convenience for people who already have computers at home?

To what extent will people use publicly accessible computers for enriching activities, such as learning about politics, history, literature or job skills? Will a lot of people simply goof around, play games or hang out in the more frivolous chat rooms?

Should libraries try to regulate what people do with the PCs? Should certain parts of the Internet be off-limits to PCs in libraries?

People and companies are beginning to try to answer these questions. Microsoft, for example, is funding a pilot program already under way in several rural and urban U.S. libraries that aims to resolve some of these issues.

If our program and others like it prove successful, I anticipate that many companies around the world will step up to larger commitments, working in cooperation with governments and nonprofit agencies. Citizens can do their part, too, by supporting library bond issues and school levies to finance information-technology programs.

Getting information technology into libraries and schools through public and private partnerships isn't a complete strategy for closing the Information Gap. But it's a great start.

If we all work together to improve access to information, the day will come that almost no one is cut off from the lifeblood of the Information Age.

It will take effort over a long time, even in the developed countries. But it will be worth it.

MEMO: Questions may be sent to Bill Gates by electronic mail. The address is askbillmicrosoft.com. Or write to him care of The New York Times Syndication Sales Corp., 122 E. 42nd St., New York, N.Y. 10168. Questions of general interest will be answered in this column. Bill Gates regrets that unpublished questions cannot be answered individually.