Why I'm not really crazy

Contrary to the last post, I'm not really crazy. I do think it's important and pathetic that 68 percent of the people online live in North America and Europe while two billion people around the world don't have enough electricity to power a water pump, let alone a laptop. And as I've said in an earlier post, I find it remarkably telling (though not at all surprising) that of those of us who are online, the loudest voices screaming for attention tend to be male. Any way you want to describe it, there is a digital divide in this world, whether it's between those who have access and those who don't, or, once they get there, whose voices get to be heard most often. We have a moral and ethical obligation to get the latest technology into the hands of those who cannot afford to buy it for themselves, and to understand that they know how to use it for more than just e-mail.

All I was trying to say last time is that I'm not in favor of discussing the in-vogue term like "digital divide" out of context from all the other things that lead to it.

But here's a good thing about the digital divide: leapfrogging. The basic concept is this: Developing nations have been shut out of the first wave of technological developments during the last few decades, so now that things have been simplified a bit from the early days, we can bring the developing world online far more quickly and with more success than the Western nations managed. A nation only has 10 phones per 1,000 people? Don't bother laying down more phone lines, just work on getting the nation's cell towers up and running.

I guess I'm far more excited about ways to bridge the digital divide than I am by simply talking about it ad naseum, which I seem to have been doing in at least two of my three classes each semester for the last year. I think the problem I have with the digital divide (and maybe one I didn't articulate so well in the last post) is that so many people just bring it up and leave it at that.

Five of my classes at this year have at least mentioned the digital divide, yet only one mentioned any of the steps our society can take to help bridge it. I hope my experience isn't representative, because if all we're doing is talking about the problem and never even sparing the time to mention some of the solutions, maybe my anger from that first post is right on target after all.