Digital Divide: the have’s, have not’s and the in-betweens

The term “Digital Divide” us often defined as an ever-growing gap between the haves and the have-not’s of technology, but this is not it. The reality is that not everything is simply black or white; we also have all the grays and shades in-between. For example, there have been many projects around the world of organizations who believe that giving technology (computers) will solve the gap, but the reality is that the technology by itself does not solve the issue(Warschauer). If you do not know how to use that computer, or if you do not have the resources to properly keep the computer working and the internet access available, it really will not make a difference. Mark Warschauer, author of Reconceptualizing the Digital Divide, believes that the term has been wrongfully defined. He thinks that the Digital Divide is not just about having or not having access to technology and that other issues of “content, language, education, literacy, or community and social resources” are often left out of the equation (Warschauer). But what if you access to information does not depend technology but on your willingness to learn? You can give a computer to someone, but you can’t make them click. After all, technology is not just about having or not having a devise, but about using the device as an interface (physical channel of communication) between people and information. The digital divide is not about access to technology, but about access to information and communication. 

It kind of works like a business, you can’t just give someone a coffee shop and expect them to compete against the Starbucks down the corner. You also need to ensure that they know how to properly prepare the coffee, muffins and sandwiches, that they know how to maintain and operate all of the equipment or at least where to call for help, you need to make sure that all of the information in the coffee shop is written in a way that allows all of the workers to understand it, you will need to teach the workers how to declare prices and how to reorder supplies.  But best of all, you also need to ensure that whomever will take on the coffee shop is willing to strive and make a change for their own good and that they will put it all together, up and running.

Solving the Digital Divide is not just about giving computers and internet access to people, it is also about informing people and gathering resources; it is about ensuring that they know how it works and how they can use it for their own benefit. To me the digital divide is the combination of barriers (personal, physical, economic, political, societal, ect), that limit a person’s ability to access technologies of information to communicate and interact with others.


Works Cited

Warschauer, Mark. "Reconceptualizing the Digital Divide." First Monday 7.7 (2002): n. pag. Web. 31 Aug 2010. <http://firstmonday.org/htbin/cgiwrap/bin/ojs/index.php/fm/article/view/967/888>.