[DD] - “The New Digital Divide” by Susan P. Crawford

“The New Digital Divide” by Susan P. Crawford – The New York Times (December 3, 2011)

This article was extremely interesting because it explains how the “digital divide” has changed into a divide regarding the type of Internet access, and not Internet access in general. The initial “digital divide” dealt with access to the “Web” (the majority of people who did not have access to the Web were minorities, the poor, and those in rural areas). 

Our issue now is that everything (honestly, everything) is going online - from entertainment to healthcare. These Web 2.0 tools require high-speed Internet access (which only a small number of Americans have access to). Our current “digital divide” is between those who have access to “first-class” high speed wired Internet and those who do not. Many people who do not have access to high speed wired Internet have access to “second class” wireless which is accessible through wireless smartphones. The people who do not have high speed wireless access are the poor and those in rural areas (since there is not the proper Internet infrastructure available in rural regions).


I initially thought that smartphones made it easier for people to get online – and this is true. But, I did not know that some people are substituting wireless smartphones for wired Internet access at home. The reason for this is because the cost of high speed Internet is so high and many people cannot afford it. They have a choice of paying upwards of $100 a month for high speed Internet or paying about $50 for wireless smartphone access.

The smartphone does give access to Internet but it is very cumbersome. You cannot type up a resume or a term paper on a smartphone easily and the main service providers (AT&T and Verizon) charge a very high amount of overage charges. Also, the wireless access smartphones provide is very slow in comparison to high speed wired Internet.


There are some countries that regulate the cost of Internet access and many are replacing their telephone connections with state-of-the-art fiber optic which will further help to reduce the cost. This is not the case in America where Internet costs are unregulated and proprietary.