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Exploring the digital divide.
You've probably heard of the digital divide. It's the concept that, as digital technology profoundly changes how people communicate, work, shop, and participate in civic life, those who don't have a computer and Internet access are at a serious disadvantage.
To shed light on the current nature and impact of the situation, Consumers Union and the Consumer Federation of America helped sponsor a nationally representative mail-in survey last year involving 1,902 households, conducted by the University of Wisconsin. The findings are the basis of a recently released report, "Disconnected, Disadvantaged, and Disenfranchised: Explorations in the Digital Divide," available on Consumers Union's advocacy web site at www.Consumers Union.org. Among the findings:
* Nearly half of respondents were not connected to the Internet at home (see chart). Forty percent of those didn't expect to be connected within four years.
* Households without Internet access tended to be lower income, less educated, older, without children, or minority.
* Although cell phones and other wireless devices are emerging tools for Internet access, computers were the main way that survey respondents connected to the Internet.
* It's not as if "disconnected" respondents didn't participate in civic or social events, such as contacting a public official or reading newspapers or magazines. They did, the study found. But they can't participate in cyberspace.
Survey respondents cited a number of reasons why they had no Internet access at home, including the expense and a lack of awareness of potential benefits. The report lists those benefits, such as an ...
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- Deregulation of Telecommunications Will Increase 'Digital Divide,' Groups Say.
- Newspaper article from: Knight Ridder/Tribune Business News June 2, 2002 700+ words
...will increase the "digital divide" between those who...of America, and Consumers Union. It criticizes the...that "ignore the digital divide." The FCC, however...take to bridge the digital divide, the cost to build...
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- Magazine article from: Daily Variety Triplett, William March 2, 2005 700+ words
...Grokster and StreamCast filed friend-of-the-court briefs. In a joint brief, the Consumer Federation of America, Consumers Union, Free Press and Public Knowledge argued that the 1984 Sony Betamax decision applies to P2P technology because the court...
- Consumer Federation of America and Consumers Union.
- Magazine article from: RCR Wireless News October 16, 2000 700+ words
A new report says the Digital Divide is widening as Internet usage grows. The Consumer Federation of America and Consumers Union said policy should be focused on people through education and making resources available to acquire computer technology...
- Digital Divide
- Encyclopedia entry from: Encyclopedia of Business and Finance, 2nd ed. Maxwell, Dorothy January 1, 2007 700+ words
DIGITAL DIVIDE The digital divide is a term that describes access, or lack thereof, to technology...digitally literate. Among the major concerns in bridging the digital divide is the need for becoming information literate in terms of reading...
- The Digital Divide Network.
- Magazine article from: Black Enterprise Anthony, Robert June 1, 2000 700+ words
...what's all this talk about the "digital divide"--that invisible yet vast gulf...to participate? This is where the Digital Divide Network (www.digitaldividenetwork...public sectors are doing to bridge the digital divide. The Digital Divide Network was one...
- THE WHITE HOUSE: The Clinton-Gore Administration -- wo working to bridge the...
- Press release article from: M2 Presswire December 10, 1999 700+ words
...Administration -- working to bridge the digital divide (C)1994-99 M2 COMMUNICATIONS LTD...to focus national attention on the digital divide -- the growing division in the United...Gore, who has worked to bridge the digital divide by ensuring that all of our children...
