The digital divide
Mike Revers
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The rich get richer, while the poor keep getting poorer! This is a cliché that you no doubt have heard at least once in your life, and now this division of social class has found its way into a new area of human existence — the Internet.
A great debate has erupted over the ability of everyone, rich or poor, to have access to the wonderful world of computer technology, and everything that comes with it. Currently, the magnificent minds of Silicon Valley are trying to figure out ways to bridge this gap, but are still far from eliminating it.
According to a study outlined in the 1998 book, The Two Americas, the gap is staggering. According to the research, 24 percent of people without high school diplomas and 37 percent of low-income people are interested in using the computer to obtain product information. This compares to 64 percent of college graduates and 69 percent of those earning more than $50,000 per year. Hardly any lower-income families have a computer (seven percent), in comparison to those making between $30,000 and $50,000 (32 percent). Of those making over $50,000, usage increases to 53 percent. Finally most staggering of all, households earning more than $75,000 are ten times more likely to be surfing the World Wide Web then those making less than $30,000 per year.
With this dispersion blocking possible equality, how can we hope to tackle this problem in America, not to mention world wide, where households in developing countries have it even worse? The quick answer is to admit defeat and give up on trying to bridge this gap, as there are more important things to worry about like starvation or homelessness, but this is a cheap way out.
The real problem that is underlying this one is the general one that most Americans face when it comes to large governmental or socio-economic problems — apathy. It is far easier to sit back and allow the government, or some other person, to deal with the problem that is really not too big to begin with. All that we have to do is allow ourselves to not be taken back by the sheer size of the problem, but rather, ask what we can do to just help out a little bit in our own cities or neighborhoods. I am sure that like me, you had your first interactions with computers in your schools or public libraries, but then eventually brought them into your own home. This is what we need to do with the lower-income families who do not have the ability to bring the computers into their own homes. We need to donate not only our old or slightly used computers to these families, but more importantly, our time. If we have the knowledge of computer use, we should share this knowledge, not use it as a way to make the gap larger. By helping the little boy or girl next door who has no computer, we learn more about ourselves and help to foster the need for knowledge in their lives.
The computer has without question changed the way we work, live and play. It has penetrated into households with a stronger thrust than that of the television. The digital divide is no doubt a problem, but with falling personal computer prices, public school programs and companies enjoying a tax break for donating computers, it is one that people are sitting up and taking notice of. The inclusion of your help in educating those who have not had the fortune of a Notre Dame education, is one more thing that will help destroy the gap that is separating the "haves and have nots." Of course, you could just finish reading this column and go on your merry way, which is fine too. You will simply add to America's biggest problem — apathy.
The opinions expressed in this column are those of the author and not necessarily those of The Observer.
All Scene Stories for Monday, March 27, 2000
