Wireless World, Digital Divide
This week’s article looks at an interesting United Nations report about ICT (Information and Communications Technology). The report compares the use of technology resources in rich and poor countries over a period of years. Go to the link below and read the article. Write a reflective comment that shows you have read the article, expresses your views, and addresses my questions.
What aspect of the report surprised you the most? Why do you think that there has been such a large increase in cell phone use in developing countries? What percentage of the people at our school do you think have broadband access to the Internet from their homes? What do you think will happen to people in poor countries if the digital divide continues as it has in recent years?
Wireless World Article
16 comments:
What surprised me the most in the report was the United States rating 17th out of 154 countries in number of citizens that use the internet. I thought it would rank much higher. I think there's been such a large increase in cell phone users in developing countries because there are just so many phones out there, and they're no longer high-tech, its easier and cheaper today than it was 5-7 years ago. Easily 98% of the students at our school have broadband access to the internet from their homes. The poorer countries have two possibilities as far as the digital divide is concerned. Either they gap will become larger because if they can't keep up now, it will take them longer just to get where we are now. The second possibility is that they'll catch up quickly as the poorer countries tend to have a lot of resources that other countries need, so they'll be able to catch up within a few years.
Omar Abdel-Rahim Post
What surprised me the most in the article was the United States and China placing lower than I thought, in the number of citizens browsing the Internet. Both, despite their ever-growing populations, are extremely technologically advanced, and, I thought, would have placed much higher. I was also amazed, at least from the article, at how many people have cell phones, as 4.1 BILLION is quite a big number. I think that the large increase of cell phones in developing countries is because they are slowly gaining in popularity, and the cheap, small cell phones seem convenient to them, instead of fancy, expensive ones. They are available because everybody wants to stock these popular devices, so they can sell them to the masses. And there’s the fact that cell phones are just everywhere now, including in developing countries, who like this new technological advancement for them as a person. I think about 97 or 96 percent of our school has internet access, as almost everyone I know in ACS has an internet connection. Nearly everybody in our school has an internet connection, and I am quite sure of this. The only acceptation could be people who are moving and have no computer yet, or people who just don't want a computer yet, or at all. As for the digital divide, if the poorer countries don't keep up with the more advanced countries, they will fall back behind, and then they will need more time to catch up and become technologically strong, but that will take a while. The other possible thing that will happen is that the resources and things that that the poorer countries export will be demanded so much that they will have the resources to advance themselves. The second possibility is not impossible, especially with so many countries falling into economic decay and collapse, so they would need to find resources cheap.
I would have to agree with my classmates, I was surprised to find that the United States placed 17th out of 154, and that China placed 73rd. With such large populations, and especially the United States being so developed, I would have assumed they would have a much higher rank. But it was actually the opposite. It was because of the large population that both countries didn’t rank high. Also, I was surprised at how major the changes from 2002 to 2007 are. The world is becoming more and more dependent on technology. I think there has been an increase in cell phone use in developing countries merely because of one thing: cell phones are much cheaper now, many people can afford them. Cell phones make lives easier, and can get things done much faster. So if they keep creating cell phones that cost less and less, the more and more people will buy them because of their many advantages. I think, and am almost sure that 99% of the students in our school have broadband access to the Internet from their homes. I think so because of a few reasons. First of all, you need the internet for school, and it’s not too often you see like 10 students staying after saying, “Oh, I don’t have internet at home.” Second, I have most of them on Face Book, the social networking site that they access from home. Third, many businesses that their parents could be part of depend on Internet in many ways, or require the use of Internet at home. I think that if the digital divide continues, then the poorer people in developing countries will find other ways to develop; not only through technology. I think that they will somewhat stop caring about the digital divide, and how to stop it and they will start looking at ways other than what is causing the digital divide to develop. Also, what might happen is a deal or treaty with another country to help them through the digital divide.
From this shocking report, two main pieces of information emerged that completely surprised me. First of all, like several of my classmates, I was surprised at the ranking of the United States and China, especially when I thought about their ever-growing populations and the integral role that technology plays in all the different facets of the lives of the people in these countries. Additionally, I was surprised to find that South Korea ranked so high, especially due to the fact that I did not think that being technologically advanced was so important to this country and that its leaders were actively supporting this. On the other hand, I believe that there has been such a large increase in cell phone use in developing countries because they have become so cheap and are now being designed to meet everybody’s needs, all the way from the elite to the poor. Also, cell phone use is an important part of communication these days and because they are being mass produced and are in high demand, they are being sold inexpensively, which is ensured by the law of supply and demand. Furthermore, I think that more than 95% of the people in our school have broadband access to the Internet from there homes, as it meets many of their needs. To start off with, the completion of many school assignments depends on Internet availability and many students also consult the Internet to get their assignments done, even when it is not required. In addition, this type of technology is becoming immensely popular and almost everybody I see brags about all the things they have downloaded while online while using their phones. I mean, it is really cool just to think about it. Moreover, this type of technology is extremely efficient, as it can be carried in your own pocket and used wherever you go. Last, but not least, as for the people in poor countries, they have two possibilities when it comes to the results of the digital divide continuing as it has in recent years. Obviously, these countries will be so far behind than the advanced countries, technology wise, if they do not act fast and improve their state of technology by making it one of their top priorities. However, I believe that these countries will quickly find a solution in order to help themselves, as these small countries are the ones that have important natural resources that the advanced countries are after, such as oil. Thus, the developing countries could use such resources to help further themselves in the world of technology.
Omar Al-Sadi
The rating in the United States is 17 out of 154 countries in number of citizens that use the Internet. I thought it would rank much lower. I think that people are using cell phones a lot more than they did before. 99% of the students at ACS have access to the Internet from their homes. The poor countries will not know the latest news in he world and they will not be able to move their community forward.
REPLY TO CAT'S COMMENT---
The United States is so low because so many of the people that live in the united states send their money back to South America were their families are, and are then unable to afford a computer. It's sad but the percentage of lower class South Americans in America is increasing tremendously, and they are also included as part of these surveys.
REAL COMMENT---
I believe that if not 100% then 99.5 or more of the people who go to this school have broadband internet. It may not be as fast as other places around the world because the maximum here in Jordan is only 2MB and thats only in some parts of Amman, the rest of Amman has a maximum of 1MB. But as for mobile phones- everybody owns one now, and as Catherine said their availability make it so easy for anyone in any part of the world to own one. You can get for 15 JDs a working phone with a service provider pre-installed. Also another thing that makes people in developing countries get mobile phones is the need for them now. small businesses and farmers all need to have a number to call if they want to have an advantage in this quickly modernizing world.
I think that soon enough the people around the world will all have access to a communication technology and it will help the world to thrive.
Wow well I have to agree with all the posts before. The rating in USA (17th out of 154) and the one in China (73rd out of 154) I thought they would rate much higher.
I kind off think it’s normal that there was such an increase, I mean, do you ever see people walking around the streets using a computer?? - nooo. Cell phones are quite useful now that they actually have internet on them.
Well I would have to say about 99.9% from the people in our school have access to the Internet from their homes.
What will happen to poor countries? They won’t be able to move forward, they will lose more and more money, and their economy will collapse.
The most surprising thing that I found in this article is that "Despite significant improvements in the developing world, the gap between the ICT haves and have-notes remains," the report found. The reason for the increase in mobile phones is that they all are becoming internet phones, or smart phones. For instance my phone can connect to the internet from my house so I use it to do my homework. I think that it depends on what time of the year you are talking about when you ask the question how many people have internet at ACS as a percentage; well the lowest percentage rate is in the beginning of the year, probably 87%, why? Because people are coming in and just settling and they don’t have internet, then during the year this number increases to somewhere around 98% or 99% because there are still some people who don’t use it. For the poorer countries who don’t have internet will be missing out on a great education, but not that much, if the country has a library and a TV then they can stay up to date with the news via the TV and they would also be well educated thanks to the library, so its not too bad if they don’t have Internet unless they have an alternative source to the outside world
The aspect of the report that surprised me the most is that the United Stated is rated 17th out of the 154 and how China placing the 73rd because they are the wealthiest and smartest countries and have China has the most population. I think that there has been a large an increase of cell phone use in developing countries because the phones have become so much more better and cheaper and has very fast connection, so more and more people use it a lot for a cheap price. I think that 99.9 percent of the people have broadband access to the Internet from their homes. I think that the poor people can’t be able to keep on going and they won’t have phones or internet so they can communicate to each other and to see the people who are dying or they can see the news from around the world through internet or TV.
What surprised me the most was the United States and China placing lower than I thought, United States rating was 17 out of 154 countries in number of citizens using the internet. I think there has been a large increase in cell phones because mostly everyone has access to internet on their phones. Maybe, 95% people have broadband access to the Internet from their homes. I think that the poor countries might catch up with the digital stuff and they might need to find some cheap digital stuff.
What surprised me the most in the article was the United States rating 17th out of 154 countries in the number if civilians use the internet, this was a shocker I thought the United States has the most internet access in the world, I was also surprised of the changes that occurred from 2002 to 2007. I think that there was an increase in cell phone use because now they are getting cheaper and becoming more developed in use, also it increased because many of the phones have Internet access, which is easier to use. I think there are about 99% of people who have broadband access to the Internet from their home. I think that for the poorer countries it will be definitely hard for them to catch up with the more developed countries, because it will take them many years to be developed.
Nothing in this article is really that surprising for me. Some thing that I didn’t know is how much the internet use rose from 2002 to last year. I could easily say that 94% of the people in our school have internet access in their homes. I think that the gap is rising higher and higher each year. This happens because the people in the developed countries have to start using phones and internet to communicate with people around them. On the other hand, the poorer countries don’t see a need for that stuff. Eventually, people in different countries will have a huge difference in between their social lives.
The Digital Divide surprises me the most. There is a large increase of sell phones because people want to contact each other from different Places and country. I don't think anyone can have our school access from their home. They have ICT notes.
The thing that surprised me the most was that in the report China and the United States had lower ratings than what I expected, I was expecting them to be ranked much higher, China having the most population in the world and the United States being the center of technology. I think phones are becoming used much more because they are much cheaper than what they were 10 years ago and they are more advanced. I think 95% of the people in our school have broadband access to the internet from their homes, Arabs are rich and they can afford it and the Embassy grants it to the Americans (that's my opinion.)The poor countries wont be able to move their community forward.
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