Ok so here is my first formal blog ……… well not so formal!!
I really enjoyed our brief discussions and the reading on the concept of the Digital Divide. When I googled it, I was struck by how often it comes up and just how prevalent it is, not just between developed and developing nations, but also as Selman states in his article “within western advanced capitalist societies (where) the…focus of these debates (is) on the technological inequalities within individual countries”. We don’t have to look too far to witness this widespread phenomenon. I, like many others I'm sure, thought that the technology we have today would serve to bring more people together, rather than intensify the existing division.
Selman's argument around the definition of ‘access’ really caught my attention. He expreses his view that “instead of either ‘having’ or ‘not having’ access to these many different technologies in many different contexts, it follows that access to ICT and the digital divide are hierarchical rather than dichotomous concepts”. This means to me that there are different degrees of ‘access’ and just because you have access to the Internet does not automatically mean you have access to all information. It makes me wonder just how profound this debate could get! Selman’s article was written in 2004 and here we are in 2009 and the Digital Divide has only widened and become more prominent as more technological advances are made.
I found several recent articles that demonstrate just how significant this issue is today and in one of the world’s richest nations no less! The newly elected President of the United States, Barak Obama, is making the issue of broadband one of his top priorities, together of course with the other imminent issues like the economy, the housing slump, unemployment, etc. Check out this blurb in one of the recent articles I read:
“Such a poor showing after more than 10 years since DSL broadband technology was introduced only exacerbates the criticism that the U.S. is not doing enough to close the ‘digital divide’ between major metro areas and rural America, and between the broadband haves and have-nots.”
(Here is the article, if you want to read more:
http://telephonyonline.com/broadband/commentary/broadband-obama-1110/)
I also found another recent article that debated this same issue but with a different twist. Again, here is a little blurb from this commentary:
“The issue of providing widespread and more robust broadband is taking on new relevance in light of President Obama's push to bring broadband to rural and lower-income areas. Most Americans in rural areas have said they want broadband, but they are often frustrated because only dial-up service -- and sometimes not even dial-up -- is available to them. The story is different in many lower-income areas and among some older citizens -- they aren't particularly desirous of getting broadband access.” (Here is the article if you want to see more:
http://www.informationweek.com/news/services/data/showArticle.jhtml?articleID=212902072&subSection=News)
Well, I look forward to learning more about the Digital Divide in our discussions!
Franca
