Digital gap splits rich and poor
p2pnet.net News:- It maybe only a matter of time before the “powerful neighbourhood search sites available in the United States” start to reinforce the gap between rich and the poor in the UK, says a study.
The Joseph Rowntree Foundation says the Net is increasing the division “between society’s richest and poorest people,” says vnunet.com.
It looks at the effect of “Internet-based Neighbourhood Information Systems” (IBNIS) which let people “select an area to live in based on the schools, housing and income profiles of residents,” it says. “It fears that the UK will become increasingly split between people clustering into ‘good’ neighbourhoods of similar individuals.”
Research team leader professor Roger Burrows is quoted as saying in Britain, there’s already a digital divide between “those whose internet access makes them information-rich and those whose inability to afford computers or fast web connections makes them information-poor”.
While no-one wanted to ban such websites, their use needed to be monitored in case they had an overly negative effect, he said, vnunet.com adds.
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See:-
vnunet.com – Internet is dividing rich and poor, August 19, 2005
August 23rd, 2005 at 10:46 pm
The artical makes sense, but me thinks the money will “cluster” and shun poorer areas with or without the help of “Internet-based Neighbourhood Information Systems”. A quick look at the buildings & neighbourhood will tell most people what they want to know.
August 24th, 2005 at 8:40 pm
Looking at a neighbourhood can tell you if people are rich are or poor.
You don’t need the internet for that!
More to the point all such a site will do is point out where the poor and rich live. But everyone living there knows that already. So really it’s only about pointing out the obvious.
Unless you don’t actually GO where you plan to live which is so stupid as to not merit much consideration.