During the post-industrial age, a time called the age of technology or the information age, computers and the Internet have brought vast resources of information and opportunity to people the world over. Communication takes place with the flick of a finger and small one-person businesses can flourish alongside the corporate giants. But some scholars wonder if these opportunities are truly equal. The division between the haves and the have-nots has been termed the Digital Divide. It is the purpose of this paper to explore the concept of the Digital Divide and to determine whether or not there is inequity in the accessibility to the Internet and all that it offers.
When looking at the demographics of Internet usage, one has to think about the nature of digital living. There is less and less dependence upon being in a specific place at a specific time (Negroponte 1995, 165). One can access email from virtually any place in the world, making communication with friends and business associates a simple matter. Writers, financiers, and business managers of all kinds may find it more agreeable to work from the Caribbean or some other pleasant, comfortable spot. All that is required is a laptop and an email address. One can even travel without one's clients knowing that one is traveling.
However, how truly universally available are the freedoms and lifestyle of traveling on the information superhighway? Jacobson comments, somewhat tongue in cheek, that there is not an off-ramp to the information superhighway in every neighborhood (2003, 161). He observes that early discussion of the Internet saw the vehicle as a way to enlightenment, an answer to many global economic problems. In fact, the Internet became big business towards the end of the 20th century, largely fueled by corporate interests (Jacobson 2003, 162). During the 2000 Super Bowl, Internet companies accounted for about half of the advertisers on the broadcast, but...