Chapter 8

Question 1

marginalization

Answer 1

 Those who are online and manage their lives with both computers and mobile devices may have a hard time seeing the problems of those who don’t. And if you can’t see it, you can’t solve it.

Question 2

global divide

Answer 2

 Everywhere else (not the United States)

Question 3

technology gap

Answer 3

 The uneven distribution of technology in society, which relates to a person’s access to a given technology

Question 4

information gap

Answer 4

 The uneven adoption of technology in society, which relates to a person’s desire to use a given technology

Question 5

participation gap

Answer 5

 Comes when people have access to technology and adopt it to some extent but don’t achieve the ability to participate in the digital conversation

Question 6

digital illiteracy

Answer 6

 Not knowing the difference between a browser and a search engine or being able to distinguish news from gossip

Question 7

digital natives

Answer 7

 Didn’t witness the evolution of digital technology and don’t question what they’re consuming or how it consumes them

Question 8

neo-luddites

Answer 8

 A minor rebellion of people who can afford the technology and are well educated but simply choose not to engage with it (Sam)

Question 9

early adopters

Answer 9

 People who continually watch for new technologies, research them, and buy them as soon as they are on the market
* Have a more utopian view on technology

Question 10

utopian

Answer 10

 Those who believe that ICTs are making the world better

Question 11

technorealoists

Answer 11

 Those who are between the two; people who understand that technological change creates undesirable as well as desirable possibilities

Question 12

infrastructure development

Answer 12

 Necessary to foster national development
* If a country wants to foster the perception that it is ready for international investment, it needs to ensure that the physical backbone us in place and people understand how to use it

Question 13

information control

Answer 13

 How a government approaches digital media – from news organizations to social sites – as a way to control its citizens.

Question 14

digital divide

Answer 14

o The divide between haves and have-nots has existed with the introduction of all new technologies
o Digital technology is different, however, in that a large amount of Web content today is user generated We are both content producer and content

Question 15

3 basic reasons why the digital divide exists in the US

Answer 15

o Three reasons why the digital divide exists in the US: technology gap, information gap, and the participation gap

Question 16

Nielsen’s equation

Answer 16

o 90/9/1
 90% of web users don’t contribute digital content (lurkers)
 9% contribute as it suits them
 1% dominate content production
o

Question 17

the US has achieved Internet saturation

Answer 17

 Private enterprise maintains the submarine cable system, the underground lines connecting the Internet from coast to coast, and the extremely expensive data centers that keep content flowing.
 If 85% of Americans are already online, but only 40% of Chinese are online, where would you expect publicly held companies to put their money? It’s a matter of math: 85% of the American population is 267 million people, tapping into the remaining 60% of the Chinese people that is currently not online is about 819 million people
* Targeting this demographic would bring more money to these big companies

Question 18

retirement happens

Answer 18

 Once people reach retirement age, there is a steady drop-off in information-technology engagement. If you have a job that requires work online, you can expect that day in and day out for your entire career.
* ICT use is highest in peak earning years and lowest after the age of retirement. This drop-off is expected to continue, as an inevitable degree of technology fatigue sets in after decades of work

Question 19

demograpics influence each other

Answer 19

 Location tends to influence both education and job opportunities which then influence income potential.
* Better paying jobs are more likely to require computer use, so a significant amount of Internet use takes place at work and work-related use takes place at home. If you don’t have a job that requires information technologies, you probably see no practical use for them in your life

Question 20

you have to pay to play

Answer 20

 Lower income areas are less likely to connect to the Internet. Internet service providers tend to wire wealthy areas first
* They’re looking for customers and have less incentive to go into poorer areas
* They also tend to bypass many of rural areas in the US. That is because it’s more expensive to connect across distance for fewer people
* Inner cities and rural areas often also have lower incomes and lower education rates, which means that people may not connect, even if access is available.
o Think about upstate NY

Question 21

information-technology is a choice

Answer 21

 Of the roughly 15% of the US population that is not online, 41% said it’s because they don’t have a computer and/or Internet connection. This number actually has increased in the past decade.

Question 22

mobile devices are widening the divide

Answer 22

 Personal computers are relatively inexpensive and there are public spaces where computer use is free.
 Not having a smartphone or tablet at your fingertips in our increasingly mobile-centric culture is the issue
* If you can’t afford to pay for the latest, greatest smartphone and the monthly fees that go along with it, you’re a have-not