Return-Path: <nifl-technology@literacy.nifl.gov> Received: from literacy (localhost [127.0.0.1]) by literacy.nifl.gov (8.10.2/8.10.2) with SMTP id eB1LHM913135; Fri, 1 Dec 2000 16:17:22 -0500 (EST) Date: Fri, 1 Dec 2000 16:17:22 -0500 (EST) Message-Id: <sa27ce3a.061@jsi.com> Errors-To: listowner@literacy.nifl.gov Reply-To: nifl-technology@literacy.nifl.gov Originator: nifl-technology@literacy.nifl.gov Sender: nifl-technology@literacy.nifl.gov Precedence: bulk From: "Jeff Carter" <jeff_carter@jsi.com> To: Multiple recipients of list <nifl-technology@literacy.nifl.gov> Subject: [NIFL-TECHNOLOGY:1447] Re: Digital Divide - A Skills or Access X-Listprocessor-Version: 6.0c -- ListProcessor by Anastasios Kotsikonas X-Mailer: Novell GroupWise 5.2 Status: O Content-Length: 4340 Lines: 86 Ajit and everyone, Glad to see a good discussion on this list! Just now finding time to catch up. I think Dinesh D'Souza makes the all-too-common mistake of confusing _progress_ in an area with actually _solving_ the problem entirely. It is true that access to computers and the Internet has apparently become substantially more available in recent years. I mean, that's pretty clear, just from looking around -- just go down to the computer store and look at the prices. Moreover, the latest digital divide report out of NTIA has some good data to back this up. For example, the share of households with Internet access has increased in two years by 58%, rising from 26.2% in December 1998 to 41.5% in August 2000. And more than half of all households (51.0%) have computers, up from 42.1% in December 1998. But clearly, many low-income households still lack access. <http://www.esa.doc.gov/fttn00.pdf> As Peter Hayes points out, despite the drop in price of computers, they are still out of reach for many individuals. And what _is_ within reach may not be the kinds of computers and Internet connections that people like me, who use the Internet many hours a day, would consider particularly useful. I also _strongly_ agree with the argument that having a computer at home is a _lot_ different than having access to one in a library or school or CTC. Having the technology available anytime, and in a _private_ place is completely different, and it really has a profound effect on the ways you might think about how to integrate this technology into your life. (This is, I've thought, one of the limitations of the CTC concept -- although there are also some significant pluses to having "community"-based technology as well.) It seems to me, for example, that it wasn't until a sufficient number of people had PCs in the home that the Internet really took off in all of the varieties of ways in which it did. (Obviously, part of it had to do with the fact that once people had PCs and Internet access there was an on-line market to tap, but not all the important things -- in fact, I would argue, _few_ of the important things_ -- developed for the Internet were commercially-oriented.) The other problem is that all of this stuff about increased access assumes that the technology is just standing still while everyone else "catches up." Sure, more people have Internet connections, but what kind of connection? As I mentioned a few weeks ago on this list, access to a high-bandwidth, "always-on" connection is becoming _crucially_ important in order to access many resources on the Internet, especially for multimedia and to access many of the distance learning and on-line course initiatives that have been launched over the last several years. Another example: I've had the good fortune to have had access to a wireless connection to the Internet via a laptop. Anyone else done this? Believe me, once you do, you'll soon realize that this makes so much more sense than phone wires and cables that it's impossible not to believe that portable, wireless computing is going to be the standard "access" of the future. So then everyone will have to catch up again. On the other hand -- it doesn't seem like any of the folks who have been seriously working on the digital dive issue for some time (unlike D'Souza) are talking about the 'digital divide' _purely_ in terms of access to hardware anymore. In fact, in a sort-of perverse way, D'Souza is actually making the same point that many folks involved in this issue are also making these days -- that increasingly, true access also requires skills, and also, particularly in the case of the Web, true access means access to appropriate and meaningful content and interactions. In other words, for example, not having the skills to use the Internet, and not having any particular reason to get on-line in the first place, is as much of a barrier to Internet access as cost. That does seem credible to me. There was a good short piece on this aspect of the divide in the New York Times last year; I'll see if I can dig it up. Might also want to poke around the Digital Divide Network site. (Emily Hacker has already posted some good stuff from this source.) <http://www.digitaldividenetwork.org/> Jeff Jeff Carter NELRC/World Education (617) 482-9485 jcarter@worlded.org
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