Barry
I hold a cup of wisdom, but there is nothing within.
My cup, she never overfloweth and its I that moan and groaneth.
Barry’s articles
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Digital Inclusion
Within the UK, there are still an estimated 10 million people who don’t, won’t or can’t use computers and the internet. Most of us now consider the internet an integral part of our daily lives so it’s hard to imagine what life must be like to do all the things you want to do in an offline way.
Posted on 1st March 2010, under Charity landscape, Technology
Latest comment received
I think this raises an interesting distinction, that between external/governmental forces blocking access to the internet and the very same forces making sure their citizens can have universal access to it.
The difference between being blocked deliberately (e.g. by something like the Digital Economy Bill) from using the net and simply not knowing how to use it is huge.
I’d argue that a policy that blocks and/or removes someone’s access to the net i in contravention of the UDHR. But the fact the my gran doesn’t know how to upload photos to Flickr isn’t a governmental issue.
There are also infrastructural issues. Is spending £500k to provide internet access to 3 cottages in the highlands a justifiable expense? And if so, who bears that cost, the taxpayer? The customers of the ISP? It’s sticky…
