Comments on: Mobile Phones Are Not The Key to Bridging the Digital Divide

By: OITP and Digital Literacy Portfolio! Plus NTIA and a Digital Literacy Portal | Librarian by Day

Fri, 04 Feb 2011 10:46:06 +0000

[...] Mobile Phones Are Not The Key to Bridging the Digital Divide [...]

By: Why Mobile Phone Are Not the Key to the Digital Divide | Librarian by Day

Why Mobile Phone Are Not the Key to the Digital Divide | Librarian by Day — Thu, 30 Sep 2010 14:18:36 +0000

[...] with me, Jason suggested dueling blog posts. Earlier this year I wrote a post entitled Mobile Phones Are Not The Key to Bridging the Digital Divide in response to an NPR story, A Digital Revolution In The Palm Of Your Hand. Since this is [...]

By: Whither Net Neutrality? « Marginalia

Whither Net Neutrality? « Marginalia — Wed, 11 Aug 2010 16:02:37 +0000

[...] than for white internet users as well. Bobbi Newman (Librarian by Day) responded to this finding by cautioning that since so many websites do not work properly on mobile phones, we should be careful about [...]

By: Bobbi Newman

Bobbi Newman — Wed, 28 Jul 2010 12:40:54 +0000

Thank you Will. The issues in this post are near and dear to my heart. It is great to see it get so many comments from people I don’t normally hear from.

By: will manley

will manley — Tue, 27 Jul 2010 17:02:35 +0000

Bobbi, I really like this post. Right now the only thing that will bridge the digital divide is the library.

By: sarah washburn

sarah washburn — Tue, 27 Jul 2010 16:28:01 +0000

Thought-provoking post, Bobbi. I join you in feeling unease by the idea of a mobile panacea.

Your comment is spot-on: the divide is not caused by lack of access exclusively. Possessing the skills to access information, complete tasks, and achieve goals is paramount (and libraries are key access points for learning this information–but you knew that).

By: Jerome Woody

Jerome Woody — Mon, 26 Jul 2010 22:57:47 +0000

I agree. I believe that in order to completely seal the so-called “Digital Divide”, you would need two things: Extremely cheap terminal hardware and ubiquitous, cheap-if-not-free internet access. When think of terminal hardware, I think more like the initiative that the Indian Government is pursuing with thier $35 tablet. (http://news.cnet.com/8301-17938_105-20011536-1.html). I know that the FCC, Whitehouse, and certain private and non-profit interests as looking into creating a “public access wireless internet” using spectrum freed up by the recent digital broadcast conversion.

By: gpol

gpol — Mon, 26 Jul 2010 22:16:35 +0000

I personally think that technology has also progressed in the wrong direction – bigger, more complex, end-user systems isn’t the answer. In fact, it’s an inhibitor to quicker and more navigable information. Plugins are bulky and will hopefully find obsolescence, and, if you look at the international landscape, mobile phones are actually the most used tools for communication and information. There are obviously many factors to consider, but perhaps web developers need to fully embrace mobile web standards (and smaller computer screens) just as sound engineers have had to record music to the favor of mp3 compression.

By: Bobbi Newman

Bobbi Newman — Mon, 26 Jul 2010 21:22:30 +0000

Which brings me to my other problem with the push for broadband access. Have access to high-speed internet is only the first step. It needs to be followed with the proper hardware (not a mobile phone) and the skills to use the hardware and navigate the Internet.

By: Jerome Woody

Jerome Woody — Mon, 26 Jul 2010 21:09:38 +0000

I believe that 3G and 4G constitutes broadband if you use FCC’s definition of broadband (http://hraunfoss.fcc.gov/edocs_public/attachmatch/FCC-10-129A1.pdf) which is around 4 Mbps currently. Many Mobile providers, in particular T-mobile HSPA+ and Sprints 4G network, fit this criteria. However, barriers to full use of these networks, including limits in the ability to tether mobile internet access to other devices and data capping (For example, T-mobile has a 10 gig usage cap). Unless these limits are addressed, we can not complete say that Mobile networks give users as complete an access experience as non-mobile networks.