Why is the Digital Divide an Urgent Problem?
The authors make their case as to why the digital divide is more than a divide amongst income groups. Evidence is presented as to why the problem will not be simply resolved when technology prices fall low enough for lower income groups to afford. The issue is made more complex because unequal access is intertwined with cultural, social, historical and economic factors, and it is this mix of factors, not unequal technology access alone that is dynamically reshaping our society. The authors show how the digital divide impacts a number of key institutions such as education, access to jobs and training and lifelong learning and may be closing window of opportunity for social and economic betterment for today’s disadvantaged groups. From this analysis, the authors provide a glimpse into why the first part of the 21st Century will be significantly different from the last part of the 20th, as new evidence suggests that the digital divide presents a danger to the health of America’s economy a
