COMPUTERS FIND NICHE IN HOMES

As people look for ways to enhance their time at home, many are focusing on an object that was once a defining element of the workplace.

No longer relegated solely to the formality of offices and laboratories, computers are just as likely found in family rooms, kitchens or bedrooms.

"It's like a microwave, you wonder how in the world you got by before you got one," chuckled Mark Cook, a sixth-grade teacher at Franklin Elementary in Cape Girardeau.

Mark and Lana Cook bought their first home computer last summer, primarily for their older son, Casey, to use as he entered his first semester at Southeast Missouri State University.

But Casey Cook is not the only member of the family to put the computer to use. Mark Cook is amazed at how much it has helped him with his own preparation for school.

From print correspondence to grading records, the sixth grade teacher uses his home computer in a myriad of facets of daily work.

"I can use it so much for my schoolwork, it's made an immense difference to me," Mark Cook said. "Every time you set down at it, you learn something."

Lonnie and Brenda Hasty of Cape Girardeau first bought a home computer about five years ago. They bought two more last year. One was for their daughter, Karen Holman, who graduated from Southeast Missouri State University in May.

The Hastys also have a son who is a freshman at Southeast. "Eric, he's 18, and he can do anything and everything on that computer," Brenda Hasty said. "I play on it, that's how I'm learning," she added with a chuckle.

Lonnie Hasty, a certified public accountant, does some work for clients on the computer and, as treasurer of his church, he uses the home computer to keep the church books, Brenda Hasty said.

The Hastys and the Cooks are among the growing number of families finding new ways to put computers to use within their home lives.

They are learning, as Roxane Magnus explained, that home computers can be integrated into most any hobby or interest. Magnus and her husband, Gene Magnus, own Clas Computers Inc. on Independence.

Though interest in home computers is so widespread, "the technology is more diverse than what the home PC owner is using," she noted.

Fortunately for many, new software packages often live up to their "user-friendly" moniker.

"The software packages are more sophisticated, so much easier to use," than not so many years ago, noted Pat Schwab, head of the computer department at Metro Business College.

While Schwab has seen computers used in the home throughout the 10 years she has taught at the college, interest has surely increased, she observed.

"The ability of computers has grown so much, they're so much more powerful than they used to be," Schwab said, noting: "The biggest eye-opener right now is the Internet and the information you can get from it."

Though they logged onto the Internet for the first time on Christmas Eve, Cook family members no doubt already agree with Schwab's observation.

"It's the world at your fingertips," Mark Cook said of the Internet. "There are so many web sites now, chat rooms where I can talk to other teachers if I want to, get ideas from all across the country. As a teacher, I can go through and download all kinds of lesson plans and ideas."

The Cooks use e-mail to converse with friends across the country and Casey Cook, like so many university students these days, communicates with professors via the service.

"We have to e-mail some of our assignments to our teachers," Casey Cook explained. "I had to use it for one of my English classes."

Casey Cook estimates he spends about five hours a week working on the computer, most of that time is devoted to homework. "When I'm not doing homework, I enjoy looking around the net."

The home computer, he said, "is a big toy whenever you're not doing work on it." Younger brother, Noland Cook, 10, likely agrees with his older brother's observation.

Schwab pointed out that Internet users would do well to remember that the Internet is not regulated and that some information may not be trustworthy. "There are a lot of discussion groups, anybody can post anything they want on the Internet, but that doesn't always mean that their information is reliable," she noted.

The Internet is certainly not required for home computer users to put the machine to use.

Home finances and budgeting are fields of interest for many users of home computers, Schwab noted.

"We have a lot of requests for home finance packages," Roxane Magnus noted.

Families are using computers to print their own checks, keep track of their checkbooks, to budget, just to name a few financial areas, noted Bill Jenks. He and his wife, Lessie, own Precision Data Systems on North Kingshighway. "What you can to do with a computer is so vast," he said.

The computer experts suggest that people looking to make first-time purchases carefully consider ways they may want to use the computer.

Cook, who had only a working knowledge of computers before he purchased his home computer, agreed. "You don't have to spend lots of money for something you're not going to use," he said.

Jenks offers this advice for people looking to buy a computer for their home:

-- Purchase a product that is current. "There's no point in getting something that's almost obsolete," Bills Jenks said. Yet, he suggested, don't fret over how quickly the computer becomes outdated. "Technology will always advance. Buy something now, and it's not going to be as quick or as fast as something six months down the road."

-- Consider purchasing a CD-ROM and a modem, he advises. A CD-ROM expands capabilities and a modem allows connection with the Internet.