<soap box>

I am pulling out my soap box to address one of the public policies related to technology, the gap between the computer literate, the not-so-much and the not-at-all.  I’m addressing it right now for two reasons.  First, there have been a number of stories in the news that impact it.  Second, I believe there is a fundamental misconception about what the risk of this gap is.  In case you’re a skimmer, I will call out these articles and the misconception in bold, as I run through my position on the topic.

First, to clear up a little vocabulary. In the case of a technology gap, I’m referring not referring to technology generally, but “publicly useful” technologies.  These are the technologies that are designed to be used by as large an audience as possible.  For an example, email, where everyone who uses it has access to a tool that everyone left behind does not.   For a counter example, Sony Playstation, where those who use it get something from it, but those who don’t aren’t losing anything.  I have found that, generally, discussions of this topic do not draw this very important line.  Not every technology that you do not use puts you at a disadvantage, but SOME DO.

Every time technology advances it leaves a few people behind.  Because the pace of technical innovation is increasing, the pace of people getting left behind has become an area of concern.  I have struggled a little bit to put together a list of innovations that fit in to the category of “publicly useful” technologies.  Here’s what I have so far in order from first to last, feel free to discuss in the comments:

1. Internet connectivity for basic communication
2. Email
3. Using the web for research (What’s the capital of Arkansas?)
4. Using the web for news
5. Broadband/Continuous Internet
6. Real-Time information (sports scores, stock quotes, etc…)
7. Using the web for shopping
8. Smartphone for email
9. Using social media to connect with friends/colleagues
10. Using social media to collaborate
11. Smartphone for real-time information
12. Using the web exclusively for video entertainment

Some of these are not yet universally used, and therefore do not provide much of a disadvantage to those that don’t use them.  However, all of them are on the immediate horizon, certainly by 2020.

I live and work in technology and most of my friends/family/etc… are middle class.  So as I looked at this list, I assumed most of the US was somewhere in the 7-9 range; with as many people above that range as below it.  I was wrong.  However, I saw something the other day that has me quite scared about the technology gap.  The first article in the past couple weeks appeared in Newsweek last week. It says that, according to the FCC, 1/3 of the US population does not have high speed internet.  Not only that, but the FCC has a goal of getting 90% adoption of high-speed internet by 2020.  By deduction of course, 10% of the US won’t have high speed internet in 2020!!!

So we’ve established that there’s a problem.  Your next point is, “But Jonathan, I do 11 or 12 of those things.  I suppose I feel sorry for all of those people that are so far behind, maybe I’ll donate to a charity so they can get better jobs and live fuller lives.  At the end of the day though, this doesn’t really affect me.”  I knew you’d say that, so here comes the fundamental misconception.

You’re wrong, the technology gap affects you very directly.  In fact, it may well affect you more negatively than it affects the people who are computer illiterate.  I’ll say that again, because it bears repeating.  The fact that much of the US (and even more of the world as a whole) uses only 4 of the technologies mentioned above is worse for the computer literate then it is for the people who aren’t computer literate.  I’ll give you three reasons why:

1. The first is an obvious point.  Society is the sum of its parts and the fewer parts that are enabled by the best tools available, the worse off society is.  People who are lagging on technology not only can’t get access to the best tools to be productive (4, 6, 8, 11) but also the means to share the ideas that make them a societal asset (9, 10).   Think how much better the blogosphere and twittershpere would be with them participating.This isn’t just true of individuals either, it’s true of companies and even charities.  There will be companies founded today that will not be as productive or as capable of spreading the word as they should be.  They will be less effective because while they are good at what they’re doing, they are behind on the technology curve.  Anything that creates inequality like that is terrible for a market economy.  Some of these companies will fail in spite of the fact that their idea would have been good for society.
2. The next reason that computer literate people need to be concerned about the technology gap is related to another article that’s been in the news in the last week. An Italian Judge convicted three Google employees over a video of an Italian kid being bullied.  The Google employees didn’t post the video.  In fact, they took it down about 3 hours after it was flagged as inappropriate.  This clearly is the result of a Judge that does not understand the power and necessity of the real-time web.  If the people in power don’t understand technologies 6-12, then they will not protect them.  Want another example from just the last week?  Here’s another link:  The UK is on the verge of creating a privacy law that will basically outlaw public WiFi.
3. The last reason that the computer literate should “mind the gap” is a little bit greedy.  Those of us who rely on numbers 5-12 for our day-to-day lives and business could benefit from some economies of scale.  How much lower would your internet bill  and smartphone price be if the market was 150% of what it is now?

In conclusion, we need to find a way to close the gap in technology.  That’s actually not specific enough; what we need is a way to make sure that the computer illiterate among us get on board without stifling new innovations.  I’ll save it for another day, but I think the key to that will be finding new applications of the current technology that appeal to the portions of the population that are not leveraging these technologies.  I.e. You don’t get senior citizens on twitter by cramming it down their throats, you get senior citizens on twitter by making sure that there is a reason senior citizens would WANT to be on twitter (does AARP have a twitter account?)

</soap box>