Week Nine: Questioning the Digital Divide

How does James' critique differ from Compaine's?
James critiques Compaine's stance on the digital divide because Compaine believes the digital gap will close on its own. He uses other technologies as examples, telephones for instance, to show that there is little need for government intervention. As technologies increase, they will be cheaper to produce and use, and therefore, everyone will eventually be able to access them. However, James' critique says that the pooerer countries will always be behind the richer countries as far as technologies goes because when it finally becomes accessible to everyone, the richer countries are going to have developed a new and better form. Therefore, the gap will continue to increase without intervention.

What factors does Compaine suggest increase the adoption of computer and internet use?
Rapidle declining costs and increasing power of the hardware; improving ease of use; increasing availability of points of presence for local Internet Service Provider access; decreasing cost of internet access; and network externalities with email and chat.

How does Compaine describe access in this article?
Consumers' capital cost: Equipment and its upkeep; and the operating costs: Subscription and connection fees