I'm sure all pioneers of new innovations throughout history have faced a similar hurdle to our web quest problem - 'I could show them how much better things could be if everyone just give it a chance'. The hard bit is how to communicate the benefits louder the criticisms and to convert the sceptics into supporters.
Imagine if the pioneers of of aviation 'The Wright Brothers' had given up their 'crazy idea' of flight because flying was actually a bit harder than driving and decided to just pootle back home in their 'motor car' for a nice hot cup of 'normali-tea.'
Life would have gone on just fine as it was. However there is something about the mysterious unkown that is well... mysterious. In this case and in thousands more the human thirst to discover proved too much so the human spirit fought on to overcome obstacles and drove the famous brothers to new heights (pun intended).
This 'thirst for discovery has never been totally quenched and I hope it never will. It is what gives us the drive to think of new ways of doing things and at least in our own eyes improve our situation.
To create change in a society like ours I believe there has to be two things, firstly a need to change the current way of doing things, and secondly means to make this an effective change without unreasonable inconvenience to those who are willing to change.
It may be said that the time and effort spent learning something new is not worth the benefit a the tool can provide. However, one way we can bridge the cap between the "Digital divide" is to become that much more efficient at doing things, that conventional methods become unconventional. To me this is sounds entirely possible when we consider the amount of time and effort we can save when we use the available tools correctly.
It does happen the other way round however. You gives something new a go and get further behind because they had to stop and fix the problems that occured while trying the 'great new technology'. This is a reality but it can be lessened through education and training. Providing people with free, simple, enjoyable, manageable training on new technology would help to lower the rate of problems and increase the number of satisfied users spreading the word on their new found abilities.
It does happen the other way round however. You gives something new a go and get further behind because they had to stop and fix the problems that occured while trying the 'great new technology'. This is a reality but it can be lessened through education and training. Providing people with free, simple, enjoyable, manageable training on new technology would help to lower the rate of problems and increase the number of satisfied users spreading the word on their new found abilities.
I have outlined rather direct measures to help clamp the fissure known as the digital divide as sometimes a friendly nudge goes a long way but there are other ways i can see the digital divide diminishing .
A common misconception about current and forthcoming technologies is that of cost. I think a lot of people are under the belief that if a computer of application is going to really help them it's going to cost an arm and a leg to buy and maintain.
Now while keeping up with current technologies is in no way a cheap hobby the beauty of many of the new innovative ideas out there will operate on an everyday computer/web connection and can still operate sufficiently without the latest super fast technology. The best part of these applications as far as these critics are concerned is that they all able to be used for free.
As I have mentioned in many of my posts I feel the government and Education Department have a lot of responsibility to provide the basic tools (basic computer and Internet) to those who cannot afford them. A viable way to do this would be to refurbish and distribute businesses older machines they have upgraded from. These machines may not fit the bill for latest technologies but for many fantastic educational benefits these machines would be an affordable and practical way to go. This kind of 'government help' may not only appeal to those who can afford them but don't really know how cheap and effective a simple set up can be. This will help reduce the digital divide aswell and make a morre effective teaching environment is our schools.
I hope that once the 'tech phobia' has been substituted for an sufficient dose of 'tech envy' the evolution of a greater percentage of our society will embrace technology in many more ways than present, and with more users becomes more demand, with more demand comes education, with more education greater innovation appears, and with greater innovation comes.... well we shall just have to wait and see.
Simon Wright
A person that likes Web 2.0
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