Solutions to the digital divide have had mixed success over the years. Many times, just providing Internet access and/or computing devices is not enough to bring true Internet access to a country, region, or neighborhood.
A New Understanding of the Digital Divide
In 2006, web-usability consultant Jakob Nielsen wrote an article that got to the heart of our understanding of this problem. In his article he breaks the digital divide up into three stages: the economic divide, the usability divide, and the empowerment divide 6 . • Economic divide . This is what many call the digital divide. The economic divide is the idea that some people can afford to have a computer and Internet access while others cannot. Because of Moore’s Law (see Chapter 2), the price of hardware has continued to drop and, at this point, we can now access digital technologies, such as smartphones, for very little. Nielsen asserts that for all intents and purposes, the economic divide is a moot point and we should not focus our resources on solving it. • Usability divide . Usability is concerned with the fact that “technology remains so complicated that many people couldn’t use a computer even if they got one for free.” And even for those who can use a computer, accessing all the
benefits of having one is beyond their understanding. Included in this group are those with low literacy and
seniors. According to Nielsen, we know how to help users, but we are not doing it because there is little profit in doing so. Information Systems for Business and Beyond (2019) pg. 243
Made with FlippingBook flipbook maker