by Isabelle Jean-Jacques

Created on: June 20, 2009   Last Updated: July 04, 2009

Technology comes in various forms and has evolved immensely over the years. Nowadays, one simply cannot survive on a daily basis without technology.

Cell phones are technology and they are used to communicate with people locally and long-distance.Televisions are technology. At one point in time, drawing pictures on walls, hieroglyphics, was entertainment. Now we can simply turn on a box and vivid images will begin to appear. And by changing the channels different types of images begin to appear. This is the world we live in. Technology. Now, with its increasing use, simple tasks and necessities are revolving around it.

The digital divide is something citizens should be concerned about. The digital divide is the division between people who are able to access technology and those who are not.

In the recession that we are in, people are losing jobs left and right. Losing jobs means losing money. Without money people can't even buy necessary tools they need to keep up with the advanced economy, known as the economic divide.

There are many different causes of the digital divide including, race/ethnicity issues, area of location, and education issues. Even if one got a laptop for free, there are many limitations that could deny the user from being able to use the laptop, such as inability to provide Internet access literacy issues, as well as electricity matters.

Many people who are able to provide, access, and use computer technology should be aware of how they can be cheated as well. Many people don't even know how to properly use the Internet. The Internet is a very broad source for informational access. Searching for a certain topic on the Internet can be a task. Often when searching on the Internet people use either queries that are too broad or queries that are too vague.

One very effective way to search for a topic that will result in many, many hits is the Boolean logic system. By using one of its techniques, you have now expanded your search results, effectively giving you more.

The group that is affected the most by the digital divide is the lower class. The lower class, which holds a lot of minorities but is not fully just minorities, often struggle to maintain a house for their family, lights to see, food to eat. They balance probably two to three jobs just to pay the bills and provide necessities. Often they need to use the computer, no? Children, when they go to school, they have a research assignment, don't they need to use a computer? Parents are often notified for everything, by what? Email. How is emailed accessed? Through a computer. Here this group is now digitally divided because they are unable to own a computer.

In the economy that we are in now, people are losing their jobs, their money, their homes, everything. The lower class is now-I don't even know what it's called. Many middle-class families are now lower class families. Families that were just in between upper and middle class are now determining strategies to suffer the least. Things are not good these days. Things are changing. The use of technology is becoming more demanding. People are being digitally divided.

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