People and Technologies
As the article connotes, factors such as income, race, education, household type, and geographic location entail this inequality called digital divide. In this age where technology is very beneficial, digital divide serves as a challenge for us.
People who use technology would understand how life goes by with it. However, many of us do not lay their eyes on the other side of it. The article using comparison through statistical methods makes it easier for us to understand that although technology is on its peak these days, there are regions here on Earth that are left behind. This implies that observations, studies, and documentaries are done for us to be informed that technology advancement greatly affect one’s social life, culture, livelihood, and education. The text proposes that in every corner, everyone should have access to the internet, as it is a tool for communication and in-depth study.
Going back to the history, sociocultural evolution is one of the factors about the variation of people’s lifestyle. According to Hendricks (2018), there are people remained isolated such as the Sentinelese and Jarawas coming from India? living away from the modern civilization and preserving the culture they have accustomed which make them not knowledgeable of Earth. This greatly affects their social life as to a government’s failure in providing them assistance. This proves the percentage of people who really do not have access to telephones, computers and internet.
According to Tasch (2017), in the earlier part of 2017, Japan and United States are ranked as top 30 and 13 of the richest countries in the world. Both countries share a common denominator? the technology advancement. Compared to ethnic groups that are still preserving their culture and customs, these countries create the trend on their own. It can be concluded that their innovations bridged them to a wealthier economic status and empowered men in which, productivity could be related. Jobs such as engineering, call center, banking, and animation need skills in technology use. By all means, information technology has a great impact on one’s livelihood as well as the country’s economic status. This puts a big question for all of us: How about those who have not attained a higher level of education and Latin awards? This supports the article’s claim that members of the most oppressed ethnic group are not eligible for the jobs with the highest salaries at graduation.
Technology evolves all throughout and according to Webering (2012), it brings cultural changes to each country. At this point, culture and education meet. As documented, a rural village in Uganda now has access to computers which serves as another means of exploring education. In the future, the culture they preserve might fade into oblivion? or perhaps, the other way around. This explains that digital divide is not merely a gap wherein the literates get all the privileges in using technology and assess why other nations do not have access to computers and internet. It is understanding that as intellectuals, we are more capable of eradicating this problem with technology use and other innovations a creative mind could offer to do so. After all, it is more difficult if we are to face a life without technology.
In conclusion, the article suggests that access to computers and the internet will be important in reducing disparities between groups. However, the lack of education and access to technology is not the major problem. As stated by Suematsu (2015), digital divide is indeed a socio-economic problem wherein digital literacy will no longer be needed in time. It basically refers to the initiative of the population who are currently taking the advantages of modern technology that will crack this challenge. Bridging digital divide as stated in the text, starts with us who should also use technology in culturally relevant ways? which is highly agreeable for the reason that technology misuse and abuse arises to another conflict.
