People are being left behind in the "digital divide"
With everything going digital, it's getting more and more difficult for non-techy people to function in the world. This article looks at the data, and the implications for different ages and economic backgrounds.
It's worth considering as we continue to build the future.
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when you look at broadband access statistics, it's alarming how many people in the US alone don't have access to the same free digital services/resources
It is so alarming! Almost 1 in 4 people in the u.s.don't have internet at home. And another quarter still use dial up. Apparently Utah, Colorado, and California are the most-connected states. While Mississippi, Arkansas, and Alabama are the least-connected states. States with the largest rural populations are the least connected. Blows my mind that so much of the U.S. is still without internet.
37% of the world hasn't used the internet?! Wow.
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Being someone from the country (rural area) I can say the broadband access statistic is a harsh reality. The lengths one has to go to in order to get decent internet is extreme in some places and by decent I mean 25mb down and 4mb up... Would love to move back to the country yet it is nearly impossible to professionally work remotely (video calls w/ screen sharing) with internet at those levels.
Other elements of the article reminds me of a consulting service advertisement I saw on YouTube. Their service was helping companies teach employees how to sync SharePoint / Dropbox to local machines.
I've been there!
It will be very hard for non tech people to understand every single thing. So we have these glossary if anyone is ever interested in learning the basics, it can be very helpful.
Most of my time is spent looking at a screen. It's crazy to imagine that there are people that have never used the internet
No screens sounds like paradise to me!
I'm remaining optimistic that the new Infrastructure bill that was signed into law will have some positive impacts on closing the digital divide.
But as this article lays out, the gulf between economic opportunities of those connected and those without internet access seems to be getting worse
BroadbandNow Research estimates that 42.8M Americans lack access to broadband internet, and are closed off from buying and selling goods and services online.
And the fact that millions of Americans currently lack internet access translates to a profound impact on the broader economy. The U.S. loses about $2.16 of potential economic activity every day that a person is not connected to the internet, according to a Deloitte analysis. That translates to about $130M in lost opportunity every day.
There are 2 ways to solve for this:
Balance things out, have a "non-digital" backup (for eg. physical menus for restaurants which offer QR menus)
Speed up the digital adoption process
Considering we're facing a growing climate change problem etc. I think 2) would be the right approach.
I don't know if the solution is necessarily to educate people on how to use technology, like they mention in the article. That assumes that the bias of high-tech being better is correct. But data shows that non-technological cultures are actually happier. So maybe instead of trying to convert people into techies, we should make sure we keep some low-tech solutions around.