Digital Divide or Participation Gap?

I found Kevin Guidry's writing to be quite interesting.  There was a central focus on innovation of technology and that despite technology advancing so much, it was still not achieving it's full potential.  In his writing, Guidry used college students as an example.  Some students have access to the internet at home and at school via their own laptops or computers while others don't own their own and have to rely on their school or a local library.  This is referred to as the "digital divide" as a large amount of Americans still do not own computers or have internet access at home. It is proven that those who do not have internet access at home, typically Blacks and Hispanics, are less educated and disproportionally unemployed.  According to the results of the 2007 Data Service from the 994 institutions that participated,  65.1% of their students use their own computer.  Rates differ from school to school of course, but this shows consensus still goes on to show that on average, one third of students do not own their own computer.  Demographics play a role.  The more expensive institutions produce the highest results for computer ownership as you can imagine.  As for the "participation gap", I definitely believe that exists in America.  Some people have more exposure to different technologic formats and devices.  I personally have never been technologically savvy, but with that being said, I have many technological items that I can operate just fine to do what I need to do.  Others, though, may have much more knowledge than I do on how to get the most out of certain things and make things even simpler and efficient.  It all has to do with the purpose one is trying to achieve and if he or she would embrace new ideas.  You have to be open minded in terms of technology because it is constantly changing and improving.  It's good to be up to date with such information and have the knowledge to operate different sorts of technology and not just stick to what you already know.  I strongly agree with Guidry's closing statement which said that different understandings of and experiences with technology may not always be conceptualized negatively as a "gap.  The fact that someone does not own a certain piece of technology does not mean an individual is unwilling to embrace new technology if he or she was given the opportunity.

 

Privacy and Data Management on Mobile Devices

Smartphones provide so much more than simply communication.  With all of the apps available for the iPhone and Droid, users have such a broader range of actions they can carry out.  You can now do banking at your fingertips and transfer all sorts of information.  Some apps have a negative aspect to them, though; that is adds and providing personal information.  Many apps require the user to provide fairly personal information.  It seems unnecessary for a lot of the apps to ask for such info, and therefore, people tend to either not install that particular app, or once realizing the type of information they need to provided, uninstall the app.  Once you put your information out there, you don't know who is actually viewing it and if there are any third parties involved.  In the future, I think there needs to be more guarantees from the apps that the information being provided by its users is in fact secure and confidential.  This would ease the minds of potential users and would in turn gain more.  People are reluctant to provide personal information via cellular devices for a good reason.  I think that fact will always remain.