23. Currently, just under half of U.S. households have computers. Rates are much lower in the rest of the world. To get wider dispersion, manufacturers have to make PCs and their software as user-friendly as toasters. That's going to take time, because the industry first has to change its way of thinking and then has to redesign products from the bottom up, with ease of use as the No.1 priority . Sept 28, 1998