The Local Divide

As we know there is a digital divide between some countries, however there is also a local divide between the communities in those countries. Similar to the global divide, the economies of countries are also a reason for the local divide; however this time these divides are not between the rich and poor countries, they are between rich and poor individuals. An example would be the cost of a computer or laptop. Computers and the internet have become a lot more accessible in the recent years and the number of computer users is rising. Between 2000 and 2012 according to statistics there was a huge increase of 566.4% world internet users. As technology becomes more advanced and that there are so many different computers and laptops are coming out the price of them has fallen because there so common. Some technology can still be considered as being very expensive, for example, Apple products which cost anything between £1, 150, 00 to £1, 749, 00.

In today’s society, people are still using other forms of technology to access the internet, examples of which include: tablets, smartphones and laptops. These different forms of technology are becoming more popular than the average desktop computer because they’re cheaper and more convenient, you can practically take them wherever you go. Having newer, more advanced technology helps people to avoid the issue of computer costs. Regardless of this, a substantial local divide remains between the rich and poor individuals of these countries.

Another example of the local divide would be between urban- rural divide. This is a divide between people who live in richer cities to those who live in poor rural areas. An example of the urban-rural divide would be in China. As we well know, China’s economy is expanding but only cities are being affected by this growth. Rural areas of China still remain to be poorer than city areas and the urban-rural gap is begging to increase, which contributes to the local divide. The accessibility of computer technology and internet usage in China has also been affected by the urban-rural divide. Whilst the cities in China would be greatly benefitted from the latest computer and internet technology, those people who live in rural areas may not be able to access the same technology which causes there to be a unequal advantage between urban and rural areas. Not only does the urban-rural divide happen in China, it also exists in other countries such as the UK, India and France which all are another form of the local divide.

Another form of the local divide is the age divide, this is because computer technology is becoming so more advanced the older generation of people do not understand how to use it and how keep up to date with all the latest technology. Recent advice has gone out to younger people who grew up with computer technology and are renown to be more ‘computer literate’ than older people; however this may not be entirely true. Some of the elder generation may have grown up before computers and internet usage and therefore may not understand the high demand for it or perhaps they are simply trying to avoid it because they fear they don’t understand how to use it. In spite all of this, some older people do frequently use computers and the internet. In some local areas there are lessons elderly people can take at their local community centre which teaches them how to use a computer and work the internet, this may help to decrease the local divide between youths and the older generation.

The increase in computer technology used in schools is one of the reasons why younger people are sometimes considered more ‘computer literate’. Younger people have lived through the advancing technology with concern to computers, smartphones and tablets. Popular social networking sites such as ‘Facebook’, ‘Twitter’ and ‘YouTube’ form part of a young person’s daily life, it is seen to be ‘un-normal’ or ‘weird’ if you are a young person and don’t have a Facebook account which just about sums up how much young people depend on the use of computers and the internet. These websites are specially designed for young people as the makers of these well-known sites know how much young people browse the web and how they are a lot more computer literate than other people. This is seen to be another form of the local divide.