Re-Examining the Digital Divide

Much media and public policy attention has been attended to a presumed ?Digital Divide.? This refers to those who have access to information tools and the capability of using information and those who presumably do not. This paper looks at the forces and trends in the information technologies the...

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Main Author: Compaine, Benjamin
Language:en_US
Published: 2002
Subjects:
Online Access:http://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/1521
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author Compaine, Benjamin
author_facet Compaine, Benjamin
author_sort Compaine, Benjamin
collection MIT
description Much media and public policy attention has been attended to a presumed ?Digital Divide.? This refers to those who have access to information tools and the capability of using information and those who presumably do not. This paper looks at the forces and trends in the information technologies themselves and the economics of information. It concludes that the divide at its outset was much the same as many gaps that have and continue to persist in a capitalistic society. It further concludes that costs are falling so steeply and ease of use improving so rapidly that market forces already seem to me eliminating the greatest portion of the divide. Policy-makers may have less of an issue to deal with in a few years than seemed likely just a few years ago.
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spelling mit-1721.1/15212019-04-12T08:17:26Z Re-Examining the Digital Divide Compaine, Benjamin digital divide Much media and public policy attention has been attended to a presumed ?Digital Divide.? This refers to those who have access to information tools and the capability of using information and those who presumably do not. This paper looks at the forces and trends in the information technologies themselves and the economics of information. It concludes that the divide at its outset was much the same as many gaps that have and continue to persist in a capitalistic society. It further concludes that costs are falling so steeply and ease of use improving so rapidly that market forces already seem to me eliminating the greatest portion of the divide. Policy-makers may have less of an issue to deal with in a few years than seemed likely just a few years ago. 2002-07-22T19:52:41Z 2002-07-22T19:52:41Z 2000-09 http://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/1521 en_US 157349 bytes application/pdf application/pdf
spellingShingle digital divide
Compaine, Benjamin
Re-Examining the Digital Divide
title Re-Examining the Digital Divide
title_full Re-Examining the Digital Divide
title_fullStr Re-Examining the Digital Divide
title_full_unstemmed Re-Examining the Digital Divide
title_short Re-Examining the Digital Divide
title_sort re examining the digital divide
topic digital divide
url http://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/1521
work_keys_str_mv AT compainebenjamin reexaminingthedigitaldivide