Discussion: Digital Divide

According to many, the digital world is being divided into ‘haves’ and ‘have nots’ – between those that have access and can use a computer and the Internet, and those that do not have such access. Some believe that this creates serious ethical implications and that there is a moral obligation to do something about the disparity; the ‘have nots’ may well feel discriminated against or feel ‘socially excluded’ and are missing out on many life opportunities. Do you feel that everyone everywhere should have access to computers and the Internet, regardless of location, need, competency, or ability to pay? If yes, who should provide the services and education and who should pick up the tab? If no, explain why not everyone needs access to the Internet.

Eric Gardner

Hello Class,

We have a very interesting question this week, Should everyone, everywhere have computer and internet access? I felt the need to to try and think of how this could possibly be a bad thing. Surely if everyone had access to computers and internet, then we could all communicate and work towards a brighter future for all, right?

Maybe.

Don't get me wrong, I do think that if every person had access to a computer they could use it to better organize their lives and educate themselves in all kinds of things. So, if money was no object and there were no strings attached to this concept it would be a great and wonderful thing. The possibilities are endless in terms of how helpful this access to knowledge could be for much of the world. Technology itself would advance even faster than it currently is, just due to the fact that more minds would be coming together. Weather patterns could be more accurately predicted helping farmers and preventing damage from disasters through engineering collaborations. Children could be better educated all around the world to grow and address issues in their local areas, creating a cycle where their children are better educated and so on. Health and medical diagnosis could be shared in real time saving lives all around the world, and it goes on and on.

However ,I think there are some big issues that arise when we look at how this would come into existence and how would it be funded?

In order to provide service to all devices worldwide, we still need to build a physical infrastructure. This could realistically only be done through private corporations working with local governments. Meaning that those same governments and private companies control content and access to information, and that is a very large can of worms. 

I could ramble on about this topic for a while, but to summarize my thoughts, I think that yes, we should work to give access to computers and technology to everyone. However, I also think it would need to be done by some international group such as the UN in order for it to not be abused by local governments to control free thought among the population.

Direction

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