Smartphones and the Digital Divide

So, first off, sorry for the lack of an actual discussion on the digital divide in class Thursday. There was a nice little plan laid out, but we ran out of time. Here's what was supposed to happen:

-Before class, ask everyone with a smartphone to respond to a post.
-at the beginning of class, put everyone who responded in a circle, and share with them the link to the text poll, and the question to discuss, which was "How does connectivity affect you?".
-Then, present on the digital divide, and start the discussion.

Those with smart-phones, or the 'digital bourgeoisie', would then discuss how connectivity affects them, while the rest of the class sits in silence, and does not even get to know what the question is.

So that was the plan! I'll admit, it might have been a bit jerk-ish, but I felt it would drive home the point about the digital divide. The internet is a giant forum for sharing information, connecting with others, and discussing the problems of today. However, not everyone has access to it, so they are prevented not only from participating in the discussion, but also from learning what the discussion is. Granted, there are other non-digital media out there (such as newspaper, books, television), but since you and anyone in the world can read this seconds after I've posted it on my personal blog, which cost nothing to make, I think we can all agree that the digital experience is much different.

But so what if there are people that don't get to read the news until they get it in print or on TV? Does it actually make that big of a difference? I'd argue that it does, but that's not the argument I plan on making here. Instead, let's all remember that all hitherto existing society is the history of class struggles! So does not owning a smart-phone make you the working-class proletariat? I'd hesitate to take it that far, but I would say you're on a different social class. While there are certainly other, probably more significant differences out there (wealth, education), but a difference in knowledge can have a very real social impact. 

Since the industrial revolution, there has been a difference between the factory owners and workers, the CEOs and the office workers. In our new digital age, a whole culture has evolved around technology and connectivity, creating a new 'social class' of the digitally civilized. However, unlike previous instances of the bourgeoisie/proletariat divide, this one has just as much to do with choice as with material possessions. There are plenty of people, in this class even, who have the mans to purchase a smart phone, but choose not to. We could all have used Google+ before this class, but most of us didn't. That is to say, inside of the technological elite, there is another layer of divide between those who are 'connected' and those who are not. A good example is the non-voting we've discussed in class: those who have access to the latest news in politics, getting updates on their smart-phones and checking blogs on their favorite political sites are much more likely to vote than someone who owns a lap-top, but only uses it to check email and download new casserole recipes, and even moreso compared to someone who doesn't own any computer at all. So, what do you think about the digital divide? Does it exist in your social circles? Does connectivity empower or segregate you?