Weblog on the Internet and public policy, journalism, virtual community, and more from David Brake, a Canadian academic, consultant and journalist

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20 August 2003

Take a look at this BusinessWeek article about The Digital Divide That Wasn’t.

1) It concentrates on the digital divide within the US – outside the west there’s still a huge digital divide.

2) Internet access at a public school terminal or in a community centre is not comparable to Internet access at your convenience at home.

3) Digital divide isn’t mainly a race question – it’s an income and education issue – “When he controlled for education and income, he found that broadband had been deployed more rapidly in minority areas than in white neighborhoods over the past two years.” Sure – but if minorities are predominantly poorer and less educated the effect is the same.

4) It correctly identifies that 42% of Americans don’t go online but states (without showing any statistical evidence) that “the divide that does exist between the Web and non-Web proficient is no longer defined simply by income, gender, race, or education.” Well, not simply by those factors – but they are still important factors. The key factor they miss is that choosing not to be interested in the Internet is probably itself a choice linked to lower education.

Take a look at this table:
chart of the digital divide in the US

and you can see clearly that all kinds of divides still exist even in the US.henati moviesholes movie soundtrack thehollywood rentals movieporno homemade moviesfigures horror movie actionwavs horror moviehsu jade moviesjameson jenna lesbian galleries movies andmovie jennifer nude connellynude jill movies schoelen