FC: Response to "Digital Divide" effort, by T.Lipscomb

[Declan McCullagh <declan () well com>]

Another way to bridge the "digital divide" is through private efforts. I 
was a judge in an event organized by the Pacific Research Institute, which 
gave awards for bringing technology equipment and training to underserved 
communities:
http://www.pacificresearch.org/releases/ma00-11-30.html

President Clinton's "digital divide" tour, digital divide includes cable TV:
http://www.mccullagh.org/theme/clinton-digitaldivide.html
http://www.politechbot.com/p-00921.html

-Declan

**********

Date: Thu, 01 Feb 2001 11:32:43 -0500
From: "Thomas H. Lipscomb" <tom () digitalfuture org>
Organization: THE CENTER FOR THE DIGITAL FUTURE
To: declan () well com
Subject: Re: FC: Another Digital Divide effort: Launch of The Public Voice

[Declan: post this, and duck quickly... Tom]

The "Digital Divide" concept has to be one of the most asinine con games
around. Functionally illiterate people are not going to benefit by having
equipment and connections thrown at them at the taxpayers expense when they
can't even spell.

It is just another way for liberals to dodge the bullet directed at the
catastrophic education being delivered to the neediest of us-- our poor
schoolchildren.

As David Gelernter and others have pointed out, computer interfaces are clumsy
and unforgiving and they require precise information.

To put in rap terms that even muddle-headed do-gooders should understand:

"If you can't spell, you can't URL."

So let's attack the real educational problem and deal with the symptom later.

Thomas H. Lipscomb
Chairman
The Center for the Digital Future
New York

Declan McCullagh wrote:

> [They apear to be asking for comments on how to bridge the digital divide,
> a phrase that is fast becoming less and less meaningful, when
> Asian-Americans are better connected than Caucasian-Americans, the rate of
> Internet adoption may be higher among African-Americans, and people who are
> offline in poor sections of the globe likely  care more about food than
> email. But collecting comments should be a worthy task, so perhaps I'm
> being too critical. --Declan]
>
> **********
>
> Date: Thu, 1 Feb 2001 09:21:04 -0500
> To: Declan McCullagh <declan () well com>, politech () politechbot com
> From: Marc Rotenberg <rotenberg () epic org>
> Subject: The Public Voice and the Digital Opportunity
>
> [Please submit a comment and forward the message.]




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