Wiki source code of DIGITAL DIVIDE

Last modified by Hal Eden on 2010/08/20 11:06

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#info('Good work. Unfortunately, you didnt give any references to the studies you mention. That was not required, but it is always a good idea to include all the references you used -- to give your arguments more power and trustworthiness. Maybe next time? :)')

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*Digital divide* refers to a gap between people who have access to technology and those who don't. The speed of development of technology divides some groups apart from each other in terms of using technology. As we know, technologies first become available for a small group of people, and from there the usage of technology starts to spread. Well, some kind of technology comes to some parts of the world  much slower than in other. Take African countries. It is well know that, there are much much less computer/internet users in that part of the world than in US or #bubblec('UN', 'Actually, African nations are also in the UN. Do you mean the EU?'). As I know from studying inequality from Economics Department, the influence of technology on inequality is different at different times after technology has been introduced. First immediate response to new technology is a big increase in inequality, because small groups of people have access to the technology, and because of that #bubblec('Gini coefficient (measurement of inequality)', 'That sounds really interesting. Do you have any sources/references/links on that?') goes up. Over time, though, the technology spreads around and more and more people start gaining access to the technology, mainly through education. Along with this, quality of life goes up. But big questions are how fast that technology spreads, and how can we help it to spread faster. Below there is a graph that shows how inequality goes up and then down since the technology was invented. Most studies around this topic involve data since Industrial Revolution. But #bubblec('studies suggest that 1980s-90s boom', 'general economic boom or a boom in IT industry? -- Always try to be as precise as possible in writing! Also, do you have any data on this? Sounds interesting :)') has the same effect on inequality.

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In my opinion, the most important reason for the digital divide is high cost of technology. It is another topic, if we want to talk about some people finding it too difficult or confusing. I believe that these people don't put enough effort in. But more importantly, can technology be available to people who are willing to embrace new technology in spite of the cost of it? Free public education and/or access would solve a big part of the problem. Ethnical/income/racial inequality would decrease, if people are able to study and use technology without buying any of it. There are organizations, like "One laptop per child", and others that help to less developed people have and more or less equal technological opportunity.

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The video's focus is on another aspect of technological divide. People with disabilities might gain a huge benefit of using specific software in their everyday life. Software developers are mainly concentrated on most commercial products, oriented for a large population of people. And people with disabilities can use most of technology because it is not oriented for their specific needs. That is why projects like C lever need to be funded by governmental organization, that are not driven by regular market demand.

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