April 16, 1998

Cybercafes are closing in city after city as the people they introduced to the Internet go out and buy their own computers; surfing the net also seems to be more of a solitary pursuit than a social one; cybercafes are thriving in countries where computer use is not so widespread and in Hawaii, but cybercafes elsewhere in US survive only if they offer more to prospective customers than simply snappy computers and superfast lines to the Internet; photos (M)

Apple Computer Inc reports quarterly earnings that are more than twice consensus forecast of Wall Street analysts and are largely result of improved profit margins and sharp cost-cutting; revenues fall 12 percent in company's second fiscal quarter ended March 27 from comparable quarter a year earlier and 11 percent from fiscal first quarter; Apple reports earnings of $55 million compared with loss of $708 million in year-earlier period; sales for quarter are $1.41 billion, down from $1.60 billion; chart (M)

Yankees and Mets squeeze into Shea Stadium to play successive games against different opponents, trying not to interfere with each other; nearly 41,000 Yankee fans make unfamiliar journey to Queens for game; both home teams win, Yankees over Anaheim, 6-3, and Mets over Chicago Cubs, 2-1; Yankees are temporarily homeless as engineers seek to certify that no more of Yankee Stadium would fall down; city officials say crumbling concrete has been discovered on stadium's facade and that ball park would stay closed until next week; as result, Yankees' week-end home series with Detroit Tigers has been switched to Detroit; photo (M)

Ford Motor Co's new Super Duty pickup trucks built in Louisville, Ky, are an instant hit; Ford brings in thousand workers from unprofitable car factories in Ohio and begins operating factory in Louisville around the clock; Ford has been more successful recently than its arch rival, General Motors, in expanding its sales in high-profit, high-growth markets for pickup trucks and sport utility vehicles, while ceding much of less profitable, shrinking market for small cars; Ford earns its largest profits from its biggest vehicles because there is strong demand for them and less competition; graph; photos (L)

Mel Gussow interviews Charles Wright, winner of 1998 Pulitzer Prize for poetry for his collection Black Zodiac; photo (M)