[討論] The Digital Divine[樂+]
Do you know anyone who doesn't have an email address?
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Now by saying this I don't mean your granny or old pa, these people don't utilize the internet cuz of unwillingness or technical challenged. But do you know anyone in your age group (+/- 10 yrs) who genuinely had limited/no access to the cyber information world?
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Most of us live in major metropolitan centres around the globe and probably have not thought of that. What if, for some reason, you are to relocate to a place for 1 yr. It's located in an area where the access to the cyberworld is limited/non-existent. Do you think you can survive? Seriously?
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2 K$ {4 N" E+ ^) GThis is exactly the point. It seems if someone is deprived for the access to the cyberworld, willingly or unwillingly, his/her chances to succeed would be smaller than the ones who has the world under his/her computer screen. Putting this in a larger context means countries that have the infrastructure and keep up with the technological development has a bigger chance to dominate the world in the future, right? Sociologist call this the 'digital divine' of the next century and it could be a primer for us to 'predict' the balance of political, economical, and social powers of our life time.8 q0 t' e9 T. W( g2 ^ R5 M
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Some facts and questions:: d1 ~" c& a* G( s/ R" J) P
1) Of all the internet sites, 50% are in English, 8% are in German, 6% in French, 5% in Japanese and 3% in Spanish. What if someone has very limited knowledge of the language? He/she will be denied of the viewpoints and informations on a colossal 72% of the internet!
3 d, W) f' U, ?0 m5 i0 e2) While most European, N. America, and some --- countries have easily assessible means to the cyberworld (pay or free). Some countries in Latin America, Africa and Middle East have no (Iraq and Sudan) or limited access (micronesia). And the developing speed of the industry only makes it hard for the countries to match up with th rest of the world.1 s# L4 g) `8 F
3) Assess to dial-up only and the boardband is another issue. For those of us who's old enough, remeber those days when we only had an email address and using primarily unix for 'internet'? How much more do you know after having dial up and subsequently, the boardband?
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I can still remember learning to type from those old fashioned, maual typewriter when I was in elementary school. Having my fingers all bleeded i was told I would get a real job unless I learn how to type. it's funny how the world has changed since then. i consider myself an old fashion man now since I can't really type Chinese. And someday, just like those folks without the internet, I will be the security guard at the building you live.
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my 2 cents.
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/ W& o) W+ U4 [/ g5 M( L0 i0 O[ Last edited by 樂壇渣Fit人 on 2005-4-13 at 10:33 PM ] |