Digital Divide

The issue of the increasing digital divide both nationally and globally has certainly caused massive panic in terms of the effect it will undoubtedly have on many facets of our lives. As we continue to rapidly create newer and newer technologies to make things "easier", it seems inevitable that we will become fully dependent on these technologies, thus creating serious problems for those not up to speed. The first area that this divide seems to create an issue is in the workforce. With the increasing elimination of paper media and the availability of the same information online, those who either don't know how to use a computer or don't have access are left in the dust. They cannot access online job postings at places like Craigslist, nor are they qualified to be hired for the majority of available jobs today that require some form of computing familiarity. Health care is effected on many levels by the digital divide. First, as newer and more effective technologies are developed for fighting sickness, the more we see the poor being excluded, as these services are reserved for those willing to pay hundreds of thousands of dollars. Also, those who do not have access to a computer cannot look up valuable information regarding symptoms of illnesses or household remedies for example. The digital divide effects entertainment in our culture particularly in relation to the rise of blogs, bitTorrents, and peer-to-peer sharing. Friends of mine have often commented to me that they feel left behind in the shadow of all this Internet file sharing. They feel as if they are out of the loop in terms of what is "hip" these days in terms of films, music, literature, etc. because they don't read blogs very often or spend enough time online to read all the information that is available. Educational systems are likewise disrupted by the rapidly increasing digital divide. Certain school ofer degree programs completely online, while other schools rely heavily on online registration and other web based programs like moodle or blackboard to relay information to students. Even beyond this, mostly all classes at some point or another will require an assignment to be typed on a computer and either printed out or e-mailed to a professor, both of which require knowledge of computers and access to a computer. Lastly, our federal government is also vastly changed from these technology advances. One of the recent big issues associated with the government and technology has been the use of electronic voting machines in election, which came in response to the 2000 election's "hanging chad" mishap. Not only is this new form of voting causing just as many problems for senior citizens, but it also has led to hacking issues with the electronic booths and other security problems. Filing taxes online, applying for a passport, or even finding out about a state law, you can do it all online through government run websites. However, despite the appearance of ease of use and availability, millions of people across the country are being excluded from the same information.