The ‘Digital Divide’: Are we becoming a world of technological ‘haves’ and ‘have‐nots?’

The printing press, steam engine, Winchester repeating rifle, automobile, and cable television are all technological advancements which commentators claimed would revolutionize society and dramatically alter the direction of civilization. The most recent technological development which has received similar adulation is known by a variety of labels including ‘Cyberspace,’ ‘the Information Superhighway, or simply ‘the Net.’ Increasingly, one hears that this latest innovation, heralded as the ‘Great Equalizer,’ will be the remedy for the world's social ills; especially those associated with the need for universal access to information and educational opportunities. However, like its predecessors, information technology is neither magic dust nor some kinetic elixir. Information technology is merely a tool, like so many others, that can be used at society's pleasure, in any number of ways, with no assurance that the outcome will be positive. In the 1990s, we are yet again confronted with what United States President Dwight D. Eisenhower referred to as ‘the recurring temptation’ to assume that ‘some spectacular and costly action will become the miraculous solution to all current social and economic difficulties.’