Digital Division
Glenn Fleishman has an article in the NY Times today (registration required) that includes a map of the hotspots in NYC. Unsurprisingly, it maps to the racial and economic divisions of the city: “92 percent of network nodes were below 96th Street.”
Glenn mentioned this article in the hallways at Supernova a couple of days ago. Bob Frankston‘s reaction (and I hope I represent it fairly) was that the problem is really one of educating people about the benefits of getting connected: all but the very poorest in NYC have televisions, and if you can afford a TV you could have afforded a connected PC.
It does seem that connectedness would spread further down the economic pyramid if its benefits were clearer. But I think very few people, except for the upper reaches of geekdom, view TV and Internet as competitive technologies. Having a TV is close to a requirement for participating in our culture. As long as it’s an Either/Or, the digital divide in NYC will be real.
Categories: Uncategorized dw
I thought Bob’s argument was valid in one sense: if you can buy a TV or multiple TVs and perhaps smoke, then you’re spending much more than a decent computer and an Internet connection.
This has always been part of the reason why Jews wind up in media and business, frankly: Jews have obsessed about knowledge and its accurate transmission for thousands of years. At times when the majority of the population (80 percent or more) was illiterate in its native tongue, Jews often spoke and read three or four languages.
It’s not that other cultures stress stupidity and ignorance, but rather that other aspects of the culture have been dominant. But in terms of long-term survival of ideas and dominance in an age in which transmission is an issue, Jews had a cultural leg up. In eras of war, I think we don’t do quite as well.
Of course, this just pisses people off.
I barely watch TV, and yet I do occasionally participate in our culture. For instance, just yesterday I asked a guy behind a counter for some coffee. He understood me! A red letter day.
Sure you can order coffee, Floyd, but who’s your favorite Soprano?
:)
I must be socially lame — you didn’t invite me to Jing Jing, my favorite Chinese restaurant! :-) :-)