The Digital Divide

I'm not sure what the issue of the digital divide really is. There are computers open for free use in public libraries across the nation, and people can get to them. There are computers open for use at universities and for a small price at internet cafes. There are communities where access to the internet is widely provided, so is the issue in that people don't know how to use it?

Maybe they don't know how to access the internet, or use the programs that get you there? Or perhaps because people don't have webcams they can't post their opinions on youtube? Is it the case that perhaps someone can't make a flash cartoon because they can't afford to buy Flash? There are so many place where digital life can be divided. This is what Van Dijk apparently assesses in his introduction.

It's very easy to sit back and say, "why is this even an issue?" So what if people don't know how to use the internet. The point is, at this current point in time, not knowing how to use the internet can leave a person at a great disadvantage in the world. Certainly not being able to use the internet is not the end of the world, but you can save a lot of money by getting things that you need online, and it's definately not a bad idea to do so.

Maybe there are less superficial reasons for needing to have access to the internet, however, at this point in time I doubt there's anything important that you can do online that you can't do IRL.

On the Subject of Outsourcing and Gifting

I'm not sure how I feel about outsourcing. It seems like Friedman is lamenting it, apparently to him, it's a big problem. However, I'm not incredibly sure as to how it benefits or detriments our society or economics. At work, my boss is constantly complains about outsourcing and how it's hurting his business. Apparently it's driving down a lot of the cost in labor for his particular business, which he's having trouble keeping up with. Personally, I don't know how I feel about it. There are pro's and con's to the system. For example, outsourcing boosts employment rates of foreign countries. It also puts extra money into their economy. However, the money boosting the foreign economy is American dollars that we'll never see again. That's a real issue. Also, American jobs are being sent overseas, so we have more unemployment. There are good things and bad things when it comes to outsourcing jobs. However, what is the solution to this issue? As for the idea that the Internet is a gifting system, it makes a lot of sense. In fact, I really enjoy this concept because it is such an uncorrupted subsistence mode. The example from Kollock of lawyers giving out legal advice on a forum for free where they would charge hundreds of dollars otherwise is intriguing. Why would they do this? Perhaps because instead of being charged to answer a question, they are offering this information on their own time that they offer this information for free. It makes work into your hobby instead of your job.

****Related Link****
http://www.altruists.org/projects/ge/ explores the concept of the Internet as a gifting society. They feel that the drive to create lasting relationships is stronger than the greed and selfishness of capitalism. This is a really cool concept.

Stick it to the e-Man!

I'm a firm believer that if any organization is going to be behind on upgrading and updating technology and practice to the modern times, it is the government. Upgrades and changes cause profound social and economic problems. This is terribly unfortunate. Due to the extreme personal subject matter of politics, it takes entire generations to create social change. Updating governmental practices to practical online resources is difficult because it is being done by people who do not understand the Internet.

Government websites are often completely text-based, cluttered, unattractive, and difficult to navigate. It is certainly the case that government websites have a lot of information and a lot of purposes to serve, but there are much better ways to organize and disseminate such things.

Many government computer systems run on dated operating systems like Windows 95 or Windows 98 for a number of reasons. One would be the cost of completing a nationwide computer upgrade; licences to operating systems would need to be bought, PCs would need to be upgraded, and computer illiterates (digital immigrants) would need retraining. Another reason for not changing is that Windows 95 is a successful and more solid platform than Microsoft's more recent releases. (Or so I've been told by intelligence members of the military.)

Cornfield and Rainie discussed the lack of fundamental change in the political process due to the internet, and I feel that the reason why this hasn't happened yet is because it is such a new media. Just this election (and maybe the previous one) were members of the first group of digital natives old enough to participate in political campaigns and/or follow them online. It will become more prevalent in the future, I believe that political campaigns will be fought and won in cyberspace.

Here is a link to an article about John Edwards' Second Life campaign. Apparently, some right wing Republicans took it upon themselves to vandalize his area.

The Internet: Never Be Embarassed Again!

(My bad, i accidentally posted this in the class blog instead of my own!!)

Thanks to the anonymity of the internet, if you have medical issues that may be embarassing for you to ask your doctor about, you can look online and consult an e-doctor's opinion. More than once when I was talking to a friend about a sickness that they or someone they knew had, I would go online in order to find more information about the symptoms, treatments, cures and personal accounts of the sickness. I personally consulted medical information online before going to the doctors because generally I feel that if I can demonstrate medical understanding in front of my doctor, she might spend more time explaining to me my sickness, its symptoms, threats and treatments.Back to my original point regarding consulting advice on embarassing diseases: if a person has a sexual issue, which is generally embarassing, they can become educated without needing to talk to anyone about it. This is especially the case if a person has only curiosity that they might have a medical problem. They could look online and check the symptoms before needlessly going to the doctors.

A relevant website is www.errowid.com which is a website where people can get honest and seemingly unbiased information regarding drugs and their uses. However, this website is pretty much a community where drug users can tell eachother how to abuse substances. Regardless of this negative usage, you can also gain interesting information about over the counter and perscription drugs.

Works Cited (in the works)

Hayden, Craig, & Ball-Rokeach, Sandra (2007). Maintaining the digital hub: locating the community technology center in a communication infrastructure. New Media & Society. 235-257.

Dutta-Bergman, M (2005). Access to the internet in the context of community participation and community satisfaction. New Media & Society. 89-109.

Galimberti, C, Ignazi, S, Vercesi, P, & Riva, G (2001). Communication and Cooperation in Networked Environments: An Experimental Analysis. CyberPsychology & Behavior, 4, 131-146.

Goby, V. P. (2006).Personality and Online/Offline Choices: MBTI Profiles and Favored Communication Modes in a Singapore Study. CyberPsychology & Behavior. 9, 5-13.

(2007). Von. Retrieved June 21, 2007, from Von Web site: www.von.com

America! Fuck Yeah!

The United States has always been about making money and achieving status. After reading Lessig's article about free operating systems and free media, it made me want to leave America's so-called Democracy for Brazil! I realize that it's probably just exotic idealism, but nevertheless, the rally that he described was at the very least, moving. Gerber's Mash-ups article made American copyright laws seem diabolical and wrong when read in conjunction with Lessig's Utopian description.

While it makes sense that a company should be able to protect their brand name by putting controls on it usage and its successive programs and projects, it doesn’t seem right that the entirety of copyright law today is based on a wording mistake. It seems to me that the limitation on copying something should be lifted if it was indeed not meant to be made into legislation in the first place. The concept of the DRM being able to control very closely all digital media is a terrifying one. Even the amount of control over creative media that we have today is near regime-like status. Imagine adding more copyright control over shared media. Reading a copywritten website without first paying for the rights would be theft.

American’s strive for money and fame is leading to our cultural demise. There is no more folk culture thanks to pop. People don’t think for themselves. Our culture is consumption and complacency and excess. I really enjoyed the last quote from Lessig’s article about how in America there are important people, but in Brazil, everyone is just a citizen. If only we could let go of a bit of our ideology.

****relevant link****
on issues of entitlement:

i posted a picture of myself online and someone took the image and turned it into a lolcat. that's really cool! since i put it up, they're completely entitled to it.

check it out!

June 14, 2007 5:04 PM

Funny Link

This made me laugh, and I wanted to post it. PARTAKE IN ITS LOLNESS!!