My World

According to the stats provided by Andy Carvin in “New Govt Report Exposes the School-Home Digital Divide” there is a digital divide. This is something we all know. However, he presents some data that most kids in school have internet access, no matter what their background is (race, parents’ education, gender). He also presents data that as soon as these kids go home, many of them no longer have access. But if the same kids have access in school, does that still mean that they are on the “wrong” side of the digital divide? Isn’t the point of the digital divide to separate the people with internet access with those without? And if they do have access somewhere, then shouldn’t they really should considered on the “right” side? And this brings me to another point… everyone (at least in the U.S.) is able to go to a public library. After all, it’s public. My guess is that a very big majority of libraries have internet access these days, so you could argue that basically everyone in the U.S. is on the right side of the divide.

So the question really isn’t whether we should do something about the digital divide, but whether we should get more people internet access at home. Or at least, that’s my interpretation of it. But why would we put so much effort in achieving this? There are plenty of people out there who don’t own a DVD player, or a simple coffee maker. Should we, then, also do something about the entertainment or caffeine divide?

GNU is a clever idea. I think many people would be interested in using it, but at the same time people will also probably think: “What’s the catch?” Anything that is free is looked at with great hesitation, because there is no such thing as a “free” product. However, if you know that it is created by programmers who do it in a form of protest against the software monopolies out there, it might be worthwhile to take a closer look at it.

I know several people who refuse to use certain programs because it is made and controlled by a major software company, and they don’t want to be a part of that. These people seem they would be the ideal users of GNU, because they would have the control. It makes it a bit harder for the people who have no idea how to troubleshoot, though. If there isn’t any support you can call or email, what do you do?

Another factor that may make things difficult for users, I think, is that it will be compatible with Unix. I don’t know much about the system, but it seems to me that there’s a reason why the majority of consumers don’t use Unix, but Windows and Apple instead. Will there really be that big of a market for GNU given this fact?

I do applaud these entrepeneurs who are so passionate about programming that they decide to do all this work for free. Time will tell whether it will really catch on.

Many of us, including myself, thought that the internet was an invention of the 90’s. It was, in fact, something that had been worked on by the U.S. government since the 60’s to share ideas and computing powers and programs. By creating a distributed network of information between the UCLA and Stanford Research Institute, it allowed different computers from different manufacturers and different operating systems to communicate information in a network that did not have a central “brain” but that linked those separate brains together; an internetwork or internet.

It wasn’t until 1991, however, that the internet became accessible to people for non-commercial reasons. This is right around the same time I started experimenting with the internet; I created e-mail accounts, and my own webpage on Geocities.

The internet has opened many doors for me, as I’m sure it has for millions of people. For someone with a curious mind, it makes it possible to search for information that was previously either not available, or took a long time to get a hold of. Now, everything is at our finger tips, and we only need some basic computer skills to get it to work in our favor.

Like anything, though, there are also downsides. In warfare, this medium can work against us. It makes me wonder; when do we have access to too much information? What information should be restricted or censored? With all the violence that is going on in the world, is it helping our society, or is it causing more harm? What effect will the internet and its “bad” influences have on kids today?

Time will tell, for the internet is still a relatively new invention. Let’s hope people will use it for good, as it was intended for.