Digital Divide

The digital divide is obvious in terms of the United States and developing countries. However, the digital divide is still very obvious within the United States as well. The divide occurs between race, gender, age and financial situations. I will begin by talking about some of the problems that could be a potential problem within education.
To begin not all schools have equal opportunities to technology. For, one a public school in a poor part of a San Francisco will not have equal access to computers as someone in a private school in a richer neighborhood. Furthermore, a poorer school might not have teachers that are educated with computers, so although some poor school might get the opportunities for technology, their teachers don't know how to use them. Which leads to their being a demand within schools not only for computers but for someone to train the teachers on them. Making it even more difficult for the schools who might not be as financially stable as a private school to take part in the luxury of technology.
The next potential problem within the digital divide is government. The government is currently stepping up their participation in the web. Their are now many tasks such as filing taxes and renewing your license that can all be done online. Making it much easier for people to complete things that would take time in the D.M.V that they can now do online. The down side is that not everyone has equal opportunities to the Internet. Therefore, their is a sense of people without a high economic standing to have a disadvantage against those that do.
Health is another potential problem that is effected by the digital divide. It is pretty obvious that everyone should be able to access the same health care benefits no matter what their situation is. Unfortunately, this is obviously not the case. People in Haiti for instance do not have the same advantages as someone at Standford hospital. Meaning they don't have the same diagnosis tools to figure out what people have and what they need in order to cure their diseases. Obviously people in poorer countries and even in our country not everyone has equal opportunities for health care with hi-tech digital diagnoses tools.
Entertainment is another problem in the digital world. Since buying tickets and movie reviews. Online television and online movie rentals have become more and more popular over the few years, its making it harder for people with out Internet access to be able to access the same tools as those who do. It is now easier and cheaper to rent movie from Netflix, where you have no late fees and you can have a unlimited amount of rentals for a rate much cheaper then in stores. This new system makes it much easier and cost efficient if you have access to the Internet. Unfortunately, many people don't have access to Internet.So these new easy tools for technology that we take for granted are not even available to people who can't afford Internet service.
Finally, work is another obstacle the digital divide is facing. Many job these days require at least basic knowledge of computers and often a proficiency in tools like excel in required. Meaning that older workers need to be retrained and that retraining needs to be taught in a time when they are able to attend. Where as people who are younger and grow up with these devices need no new training and have a clear advantage over older people who do not know how to use these devices and programs. Furthermore, most of the new hiring is done online, so if they don't know how to use the Internet they are no able to use online job posting sites.
There is a clear advantage to people who have the luxury of using wonderful technologies such as the Internet, computers, and electronic diagnosis tools. Unfortunately, billions of people have the opportunity to use digital products but are unable to in less they can cross barriers. Barriers such as economics and education. Their are people who are trying to addressing the problem but more can always be done. Unfortunately, economics seems to be a serious issue in the digital divide, one that will take a lot of work to overcome. So next time you are using these luxuries remember that they are luxuries that not everyone has the opportunity to receive.