We have become so obsessed of late with getting broadband internet access and Wi-Fi that we have started to lose the plot about what the digital divide is all about. Let us remind ourselves. It is not the gap between those with high speed wireless access and those without. It is between the "haves" and those without internet access of any kind. The gap is narrowing but is still appalling.
This week's Guardian/ICM opinion poll shows that in March, 36% of people in the UK had no internet access. This is better than the 42% of adults in the US revealed to be unconnected to the web in a study by the Pew Internet and American Life project - but better doesn't mean good.
The proportion of people in the UK without web access has dropped from 38% last year - a welcome improvement - but the rate of improvement is lower than earlier years and underlines the difficulty of reaching the government's target of everyone who wants net access to have it by 2005.
While only 20% of people in the rich social class AB are webless, 68% of DEs are unconnected - three percentage points higher than last year. We have become too blasé about web access. We moan about email spam, information overload and the quality of data that search engines throw up. We hardly think about the huge advantages it gives us compared with those deprived of it altogether.
Even if having the internet were confined to one good search engine such as Google, the advantages are enormous. For the first time, it gives users access to knowledge about any subject on earth - from relativity to Eastenders - without leaving their living rooms. If you can afford the initial cost of connectivity - still a huge problem for poorer people - then there can no longer be any excuses about knowledge being unavailable. Whether you are a sixth former or a shift worker pursuing remote learning, the answers are out there if you key in the relevant search words.
The flip side is that poorer people are even more marginalised. The internet acually widens the digital divide instead of bridging it.
No one doubts the government's good intentions and they have achieved a lot. Nearly all schools now have an internet connection (the speed of which is debatable). Market forces will also help as computers continue to get stronger and cheaper.
The trouble is that accessibility is only the first stage. There is, as researchers have noted, a second invisible digital divide arising from lack of training to use the web properly or cultural barriers that prevent people from using it.
But that is tomorrow's problem. The immediate one is to ensure that everyone has net access - and as far as possible through broadband - by 2005. Education has long been accepted as one of the great drivers of long term economic growth. If we get web access right, it will more than pay for itself by producing a better educated workforce. If you do not know the answer, the next best thing is to know where to get it instantly.
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