Article #4- "The Downside of Diversity" by Jonas

In contrast to the melting pot theory taught in elementary classrooms across the country, famed social scientist Robert Putnam recently released a study that suggests that racial and ethnic diversity may have its drawbacks. Putnam’s findings come from a huge study that compiled 30,000 detailed interviews with subjects from 41 different US cities, the largest study ever on civic engagement.

The results are troubling: the more diverse a community, the less likely its citizens are to engage in civic activities. Cities with greater diversity volunteer less, vote less, and give less to charity than their less-diverse counterparts. The author of “Bowling Alone”, a landmark book published in 2000 that suggested Americans were getting less and involved in civic life, Putnam is no stranger to the subject of social isolation.

Researchers looking to refute the study are not likely to find holes in Putnam’s data. The author, well-known for his liberal and progressive views, conducted a rigorous examination on his study. He spent a period of over five years re-examining his own conclusions after initially realizing the “inconvenient truth” he was about to release.

In summarizing his findings, Putnam notes that people tend to “hunker down” and withdraw from their neighbors. He even found that tensions are high between members of the same ethnic group. Conservative think tanks have been quick to latch on to Putnam’s research, suggesting that the study proves the negative implications of lax immigration laws.

Putnam disagrees with such views, suggesting that a more diverse America is inevitable, not to mention valuable.

Glad to be here.

Hi there. I'm Brendan McCarty, a SLIS student in my final semester of the program. As with many others in our class, I've had a bit of a roundabout course getting to where I'm at right now.

For my undergraduate studies, I earned a double major in Journalism and German Culture. Since it was not in the stars for me to earn my living as a foreign correspondent based in Munich, I paid the bills by moving pianos, then settling in for a few years working in sales at a digital stock photography company. I eventually realized that there is only so much of a future working at an Internet start-up, and thought fondly of my journalism days, most notably my time spent in the library.

Since entering SLIS, I've gained an appreciation for Public Libraries, and I hope to work in one upon my graduation. I'm especially enthusiastic for the public service aspects of working in a public library setting, so it will be useful to know how the digital divide will factor in to my work.

When I'm not working at the SLIS Library (where I'm employed as a student assistant), I enjoy listening to and making music. I play keyboards and occasionally sing in Awesome Car Funmaker, I'm an avid record collector, and I love to sing Karaoke.

Sharon S. Introduction

Greetings everyone -
I’m in my final class to complete the Master’s in Library Science. I grew up in northeastern Pennsylvania and got my undergrad in Anthropology, English and Women's Studies from Franklin and Marshall College in Lancaster, PA. Following that, I went to Washington, DC, where I got a Master’s in public policy and women’s studies at George Washington University and also worked full-time in GWU’s main library for four years.
Then I spent the next eight years working for a non-profit organization in DC that ran conferences, seminars and internships for women college students about policy and politics. In 1999, my partner and I moved to Wisconsin. I worked for a K-12 library for a while and then part-time at a YMCA when my kids were little. Four years ago, I started the SLIS program part-time. I live in Watertown (about an hour northeast of Madison), with my partner (he teaches high school English) and our two daughters, ages 5 and 8. I also work part-time at the Robinson Map Library at UW doing metadata and cataloging. The picture is me and my daughters at the Milwaukee zoo.

"What the Numbers Tell Us" Summary-Article #1

Heather Boushey and Christian Weller’s article “What the Numbers Tell Us,” establishes a statistical basis for the indisputable fact that economic inequality within the United States has been expanding for the past 30 years. Statistics are used to dismiss any theories that these economic trends could be attributed to a temporary situation; rather, they are used to acknowledge an emerging pattern of inequality.

The article states that most economists agree that the distribution of wealth and income are greater today than before the Great Depression. The rich have increased their wealth steadily and by great strides over the last decades, while the income of the poor (largely determined by their wages) has declined. During the 80’s the wages of the poor were lowered by 14.1 percent, the wages for the medium worker were flat, and the wages of those at the top increased by 8.1 percent. In the 90’s, the disparity between the top and middle grew larger, with the top 1percent doubling their income.

Some theories on the causes for these findings were briefly mentioned: the introduction of the PC and the proposition that perhaps the circumstances of a singular demographic could have accounted for the increase in inequality. Both have since been dismissed after further research.

It goes on to say that ‘hardly any’ economists would say the United States economy provides the opportunity for personal mobility. Evidence shows that economic advancement for those at the bottom of the income ladder is less likely to happen today than it has been in the past. Higher inequality has not been matched with higher mobility, causing the concentration of wealth and income we see today.

Introduction-Ellen

Hello all!

I am a special student applying to be in SLIS for the fall. I started my graduate career at UW Madison in 2003 in Ethnomusicology, which is essentially studying music within the context from which it is created or used. I received my master's in 2005. I began the journey towards my Ph.D. in the same field in 2006, with a minor in LACIS, and got pretty far until we all decided that I was better suited elswhere. I want to work more closely with public arts and public institutions than in academia, which is what a Ph.D. in Ethnomusicology would presume.

So, I looked into Folklore and related programs, but realized that hey, I've been working in a library for five years, I work in archives, I enjoy researching for articles and hard to find books, so here I am, going for SLIS degree. Hopefully. As an added bonus, I've already taken numerous courses that are cross-listed with SLIS, so it was a logical leap.

I have numerous research interests, including music of Andean migrants in the Upper Midwest, Irish music, migrant communities, the use of technology in music and in libraries, audio preservation, and audio streaming. I've been working in Mills Music Library for over five years and also work with the Oral History Program at the UW-Archives. I believe oral histories and ethnographic fieldwork are neglected by academia as a whole (not necessarily in folklore, anthropology, and ethnomusicology). So much can be gained by talking to people.

Distributive Justice Summary, Reading #3

Julian Lamont’s entry on “Distributive Justice” in the Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy briefly summarizes six different principles on how best to distribute goods and services including the main critiques of each principle. Strict Egalitarianism states that all goods and services should be distributed equally to all people, no matter what. The main critique on Strict Egalitarianism is that people’s material goods do not have to be strictly equal in order for people to be better off. The Difference Principle states that wealth does not have to distributed equally as long as the least advantaged have a larger benefit. The Difference Principle focuses on the relative position of different groups rather than exact equality. This principle is heavily criticized. Resource-Based Principles grew out of the Difference Principle but seeks to distribute goods based on people’s choices and talents. Welfare-Based Principles seek to increase welfare of the people with a focus on the Utilitarian line of thought. It is almost impossible to determine a person’s welfare quantitatively, making it almost impossible for proponents to agree on how to apply this principle. Desert-Based Principles examines people’s contributions, efforts, and/or compensations to determine how to distribute goods and services. A criticism is that economic distribution is based on factors out of an individuals control. Libertarian Principles look at the market as being just in and of itself based on the exchanges made. Implementing these principles is nigh impossible so they exist more as gedankenexperiment rather than viable alternatives to goods distribution. Not that any of them seem to really address the current unequal distribution to goods and services.

[Intro] Jen Moore

Hi, I'm Jen. (Hi, Jen!) I'm in my first year in SLIS; before I went back to school I worked a menial, soul-crushing job for two years, and before that I got my degree in anthropology from Beloit College. (I still haven't ruled out higher education in anthropology, but I nixed it for now because field work scares me.) I wrote a senior thesis on the relationships of the Livejournal fan community for Stargate: Atlantis (and it killed any love for that show I might have had left).

Obviously I'm tremendously interested in how we use the Internet to communicate, build communities, and shape our relationships. I'm particularly interested in the ways that the personas we wear online do (and don't) break down traditional categories like race and gender, socioeconomic status, physical and mental ability, and so on ad infinitum. Can you really be someone totally different online than you are in person?

In that vein, it took me upwards of half an hour to give myself access to this blog. Due to a bit of technological inattentiveness on my part when Blogger first associated itself with Google, I ended up with blogs attached to this Google account (you know, the one with my real name on it) when they should have gone onto another, because I do blog about things I would rather not have associated with my professional career. I, for one, am certainly trying to maintain a divide between one part of my online life and another.

GOOOOGLE

Here's an interesting article about the future of books and Google.

Incidentally, I was made aware of this article from Andrew Sullivan's blog The Daily Dish. It's a great blog. He often covers issues about the digital divide, and does an excellent job creating and publishing thoughtful discussions. So I'd recommend you check him out if you have the time.

Liz E. (Introduction)

Hey y'all. I'm Liz, and saying "y'all" is a persistent habit that this northern girl picked up living in DC for six years. I did my undergrad at Georgetown, majoring in something called "Culture and Politics" and women's studies. Then, I stuck around working as a web developer for Feminist Majority/Ms. Magazine for a couple years. I liked web work a lot, and I met tons of awesome nonprofit people, and I got to feel like a grown up professional person. But the schedule was exhausting, and I was ready to go back to school.

I came to UW in 2006, got my MA, and now I'm a PhD student in the Communication Arts department, the media and cultural studies track. This means that I spend half my time teaching undergrads about radio, television, and film, and the other half pursuing my own interests in online media content and platforms.

I'm particularly interested in media forms that are "native" to the Internet - blogs, wikis, social networking sites, IM software, etc. I like to explore how these media forms do and do not replicate the structures and means of communication that we see in older media and communication technology, and I'm especially curious about the social justice ramifications of access to these tools. As I mentioned, a lot of what I do is about disability studies and web content accessibility - how can sites be coded to be used by the widest range of people in the widest range of situations? Using the Internet always involves our bodies - can nonnormative bodies express themselves and their identities through tools designed for the norm?

As you might expect, I'm a voracious Internet user. My RSS reader is enormous, I think slash fanfic is fascinating, and I love Ravelry, a social networking site for knitters. I'm also a near-constant Twitterer (trilliz). It was hard to write this in more than 140 characters!

Group Gryffindor Articles

Hi friends,

Group Gryffindor has posted supplementary articles for this week's class on our wiki page. So check it out, please!

Richard Intro

Hey I'm Richard. I am the other special student in our class. This is my first class in SLIS, actually its the first class I've taken in awhile.

Originally I am from Brookfield which is right outside Milwaukee. There isn't much there, mostly malls and more malls so I'll move on. I did my undergrad here and got a BA in Psychology though I spent a couple years in engineering. Since then I have mostly been working and traveling when I get the chance. The picture of me is from Costa Rica near Playa Hermosa.

Currently I work at the Legislative Reference Bureau in library services. I do a lot of clippings scanning, meta tagging, circulation, all that fun stuff. I also worked for the WI State Law Library for quite a long time as the circulation assistant. I suppose I should try to get a job with the executive branch next so I can cross all three branches off my list.

Jessica Fairchild Intro

Greetings,
I'm a second year, last semester SLIS student with interests in electronic records, digital information/technologies, archives and records management. Lately I've become interested in the social and cultural aspects of digital information/technologies and how they shape the records we create.

I received my BA, what seems like many moons ago, from UCSD in Sociology and English Lit. While an undergrad I found myself working at Geisel Library and had many wonderful opportunities working in a number of different departments. After several years at Geisel, I took a leave of absence to work for Semester at Sea. I sailed with them on their fall 2002 voyage, and we traveled to many great places, such as Vietnam, Kenya, Brazil, Cuba, India and several others. (FYI: At least when I traveled, they hire 1 librarian position each voyage. I highly recommend this experience to anyone who loves to explore the world, meet interesting people, and eat amazing food.)

Before moving to Madison three years ago, my husband and I lived in Juneau, Alaska. I worked for a whale watching outfit for a few summers and then worked at the Alaska State Archives. I found myself in Alaska, by way of Panama, hoping to make some cash to fund an extended life of leisure back in beautiful Panama. However, I met my husband in Juneau (I know cliche) and as they say...the rest is history. I gave birth to a beautiful baby girl on September 4th, 2008, and each day she inspires me to be a better person and to see the world with new eyes.

I currently work at the University Archives and Records Management Services on the RM side of things. Upon graduation, we plan to move back to sunny San Diego.

Meagan P. (Introduction)

Hi. I'm Meagan Parker, a second semester student in SLIS. This is my dog Dipsy, who is both cute and incredibly naughty. She likes to eat coins.

I grew up in Wauwatosa, WI. I knew from a very young age that I wanted to live in a big city someday, and so moved to Chicago for my undergraduate studies. I attended DePaul University and got my BA in English and a minor in Peace Studies. While at DePaul, I became involved with various social justice organizations both within the university and around the city. Chicago stole my heart, and I'm hoping to move back and work in the public library system there. Through my work at both a homeless shelter/resource center and an after school program on Chicago's West Side, I realized that public libraries combined many of my passions. Deciding that this was how I wanted to "do my part" and be a part of the community led me here to Madison.


In my free time, I enjoy reading, baking, spending time with friends, riding my bike, and looking at cats on Petfinder.com. Unfortunately, several important people in my life are allergic, so I just covet friends' cats and stare longingly at them on the Internet.

Hi. My name is Katie and this is my second semester in SLIS. And also my first blog post. Ever. Seriously.

I grew up in the great city of Milwaukee, WI with my lovely parents and two brothers. I spent the first two years of my undergraduate career at the University of Colorado-Boulder. in 2004, I transferred to UW-Milwaukee and received a B.A. in English and art history. After graduating, I traveled around China with my boyfriend, who was living and teaching there for a year, organized a kick-ass street festival for a local non-profit, and worked as the office manager/factotum for a local restaurant group after breaking my foot while waitressing at one of their restaurants. It’s probably one of the cooler events of my life: breaking foot leads to ginormous promotion. Awesome.

The boy and I moved here in August and have been working/schooling ever since. I currently work at the Kohler Art Library and at Digital Collections. I am interested in art and academic librarianship, print culture, and digital curation. Some non-school/work things I like are reading, gluten-free dairy-free cooking (it’s way more delicious than you think), sewing, pilates, listening to Radio Lab and This American Life podcasts, Netflix, and playing with my two cats, Charlie Baxter and Mimi Lou.

This is a picture of myself celebrating the beauty of a piece of moss (held up to my neck) that I recently found on a hike outside of San Francisco. It was lovely. Unfortunately, soon after my brother destroyed it. Older brothers are horrible. I have two. I'm not even going to get into the time they told me they had put my favorite teddy bear in the oven and turned it into a spoon.

Anyways, this is my second semester in SLIS and my interests are predominately in the public library sphere. I have recently begun working at the CCBC and find children's and young adult books quite interesting. I also work at the Hawthorne Branch of the public library. I received my undergraduate here in Madison, in English and Women's Studies. I am a true and blue Wisconsinite, hailing from the Musky Capitol of the World- Hayward (also home to the World Lumberjack Championships).

I always knew that I eventually wanted to end up in library school, but I took two years off and worked as a personal care assistant to people with disabilities, which I found to be a very rewarding and invaluable experience.

I'm looking forward to the semester!

High Fives All Around!

please allow me to introduce myself:

my name is chris lay, and i'm finishing up my fourth and final semester in SLIS. i am originally from north carolina, having been born and raised in the currently booming ("next atlanta, y'all!") city of charlotte. i accomplished my undergrad at appalachian state in the sleepy mountain town of boone, nc. my alma mater is known and liked in this city due to the fact that our football team stunned michigan state a couple of seasons ago, beating them on their own turf. "the enemy of my enemy is my friend," as they say.

i earned my undergrad degree in the discipline of interdisciplinary studies, which is a fancy way of saying that i took a bunch of very cool humanities courses and strung them together with the metaphorical bubblegum provided by post modernism. i also minored in english lit. for all intents and purposes, as far any career opportunities go, we can all see that i was kinda screwed.

i started working in an elementary school upon graduation and found myself spending more and more time in the library. after working for a year as a first grade teachers assistant, the position of library assistant was created and i very quickly submitted my application. not long after working in the media center, i decided that it was high time to take adulthood by the horns and get a degree in librarianship, which led me to the place i am today.

i am interested in a lot of digital and technological issues, usually pertaining to copyright and the general umbrella of the "free culture" movement. currently i work in the computer lab of second floor college library and in the digital liab of the historical society.

Introduction {Alyson}

Hello. I am Alyson. I did my undergraduate career here as well. I studied Music History and Spanish Literature. I studied abroad in Sevilla, played French horn in a woodwind quintet called “A Plethora of Distractions,” and played French horn in a Punk/Ska band called “Sunshine Policy.”

After undergrad, I took two years off before coming back to grad school. I lived and worked in Argentina for a year. I was in the outskirts of Buenos Aires. I was a volunteer at a nursing home where I did actually play bingo at least once a week. In the afternoons I worked with a feminist Lutheran pastor on issues of Gender Justice and Women’s rights.

The second year, I was an AmeriCorps*VISTA at Inver Hills Community College just south of Saint Paul. I worked their Service Learning Program. It was great place to work and I really enjoyed collaborating with both students and instructors on integrating service into their courses.

This is my first year as a SLIS student, though I took the other 640 with Louise Robbins last spring. I am in second year of the Latin American, Caribbean, and Iberian studies program after starting Fall 2007. I will be working on my thesis this semester as well as finishing up with my last two classes for them. My thesis is on the response of different groups to femicides in Ciudad Juarez.

Introduction [Sara A.]

Hello. I'm Sara, this is my second semester taking classes as a special student, have applied for SLIS grad program fall of 2009. I moved to Madison about a year and a half ago from Milwaukee.

My undergrad is from UW-Milwaukee in Information Science. While a student (and for a bit afterward/before) I was also a bookseller, 8 years total. After graduation I worked in a small bindery doing antique book/document restoration/preservation. Before moving to Madison I worked at a large hospital doing medical records management.

Currently I work at the Madison central library. My main jobs right now are the Internet/Computer Sign-Up/Help Desk and Interlibrary Loan processing (which I actually like). I have also worked quite a bit in technical services. I volunteer in the preservation lab at the Wisconsin Historical Society, and will most likely be starting at LTE position there shortly.

I have a variety of library interests but my main interest is preservation and access to antique/rare/historically valuable materials. Specifically creating digital systems and records of fragile materials to prevent loss, but also long term storage, repair, and care. I really enjoy the "crafting" part of book and document repair. Does it seem like I should be getting a conservation degree? Yeah, sorta, but I am also very interested in other aspects of librarianship (and many other things as well, including social justice, public education, environmental issues, information access etc etc etc).

In my non-school/career life some of the things I enjoy are reading (duh), cats, vegan cooking (I'm not strict, but all my cooking is), the Internet, crafting (mostly knitting & embroidery), archery, bookbinding, politics, and tea.

Shauna M. (Introduction)

Hi there. I'm a first-year Master's student at SLIS. I'm still solidifying my areas of research interest, but I enjoy examining issues surrounding digital divides, games, learning and society, LGBTQ issues, tribal libraries, and visual culture.

Prior to coming to SLIS, I was a Reading Specialist in Portland, OR. During the academic year, I taught elementary-aged children at two Title I schools. The funding for my program was geared towards servicing the needs of youth of color and youth from families living below the poverty line. I miss teaching and having the rare opportunity to provide individualized instruction to my students. It was an extremely difficult situation to leave my job and pursue a Master's degree.

That said, grad school has consumed my life. When I'm not on campus, you can find me drinking copious amounts of coffee at Barriques while working on homework. I enjoy crafting, playing video games (mainly RPGs and Strategy/RPGs), reading, making art, thrifting, spending time in the woods, among other things. I also like hanging out with my nearly toothless feline friend, Muppet (aka. Muppettron 2000).

[Intro] Sarah R.

Greetings. I am a second-year Master's student in SLIS. My areas of academic interest include:

The Information Society and its sociocultural, economic and ethical implications. Issues of digital divides, Internet/networked culture, the nature of digital information, information transmission and dissemination,information as commodity, information as currency. Digital technology and Internet policy development. Open source movements. Information organization and access. Findability. Fair use and copyright. Information and/as control. Games, gaming and society. Machine-assisted information search, ranking and retrieval. Undergraduate LIS education. History of technology.

If you're wondering if that might be cut and pasted directly from my CV, you'd be right.

Prior returning to academia to pursue my Master's degree, I had a decade-long career in academic IT, the majority of which was undertaken at this place. I was a TA for LIS 201, and am presently TAing for LIS 202.

I used to have hobbies and outside interests, but I've mostly forgotten them since being in school. I like road biking when the tundra thaws. I am too lazy to go to yoga but I like it. I played Fable 2 as much as possible over break, and I think it's the first time I have ever, ever, ever "finished" a game (as much as you can finish a game of this nature) in my life.

Reading #2, Summary for class

In "The Picture: Growing Economic Insecurity and Inequality," Chuck Collins and Felice Yeskel attempt to illuminate a trend of greater economic inequality in the United States.  The article includes statistics to reveal the economic disparity between the wealthiest and the poorest, occasionally focusing on the differences between African-Americans, Latinos and White Americans.  Racial groups like Asian-Americans are not discussed and the differences between men and women are only briefly touched upon.  

The authors use graphs to visually represent their data and often use comic strips as a tool of social commentary, which they try to avoid directly engaging in with their prose.  They don't pursue deep reasons for the causes of economic inequality, nor do they offer potential remedies.  Instead, the article works as an introduction and is intended for an audience with little or no experience in economics, as they define terms like "real income," "wealth," and "median net worth," which experienced economists would already understand.

The article frequently takes an historical perspective in order to show not only how things have changed over time, but also how things are potentially reverting to levels of the past.  For example, one graphs shows the top 1% of the population's share of the household wealth from 1922 to 2001 (p. 53).  The numbers dip in the middle of this period and then seem to be rising again to previous levels.  A rhetorical question lingers behind all of the statistics: are we making any progress in creating economic equality?

intro

Hello

Welcome to My Life

Hey there-

My name is Zack and I am currently a sophomore at UW-Madison. This semester, I will be applying for the Strategic Communications (advertising and PR) program within the School of Journalism and Mass Communication. Also, I am applying for the CIB program from the School of Business in order to have a little financial knowledge under my belt when I enter the field marketing/advertising after college.

Originally, I grew up in a suburb outside of St. Paul, MN. Although I am the youngest person in LIS 640, being the "baby" is nothing new to me - that is, I have an older brother (UW graduate and current medical school student at the University of Minnesota) in addition to my mother and father.

In my spare time at Madison, I am either working as an intern at the UW-Morgridge Center for Public Service, planing events as the VP-Membership of a professional-business fraternity on campus, playing a little bit of ultimate frisbee, working out at the SERF, cooking for in my apartment for my friends (the photo above is me with one of my dessert creations), or studying at one of the various UW-Libraries around campus. If you look around College Library or the Grainger Business Library, you will most likely find me attempting to study.

L. Wynholds

Intro:

I'm a second year SLIS student in the technology track. Before coming to the Library School here in Madison, I had worked my way around a univerisity library system in central California. I grew up in California in a predominantly poor, rural area and majored in Environmental Sciences and German as an undergrad. I was an avid reader as a child and enjoyed a hobby of writing candidly of the velocity of living, although graduate work pretty much precludes having much of a personal life.

Since moving to Wisconsin, I've been working for the Wildlife Disease Information Node, which is a federal information gathering and disseminating agency. I also have a project assistantship with the folklore department working with issues of digital archives.

Lori Bird Intro

Hi, I'm Lori, and I'm a second-year SLIS student. I work at the Beaver Dam Community Library as the youth services librarian. If you looked at the photo in my profile you may wonder why I'm so happy to be on a Segway (Segway the Door Tours). They ARE strange machines, but also kind of fun. No, it's not my main form of transportation. Yes, I'm wearing a helmet. Too bad for you that I didn't post the picture where I'm also wearing an enormous yellow poncho (during a hail storm). I'm looking forward to this semester. I'm also in LIS 645 - Intellectual Freedom, and I think the two classes will work well together.

Announcement: For-credit service-learning with digital media

This is a great community technology project which I encourage students to explore if they have the time and seriousness of purpose to devote to it. (I am willing to sign on as the "directed study" faculty member for any LIS 640 students who are interested in doing it for one credit.)

Want To Help Local Non-Profits With Their Technology Needs?

Want to Earn Course Credit and Gain Valuable Experience in Your Community?

TechShop Madison has service-learning opportunities available to students for the Spring 2009 semester. Credit is given through directed study or a 1-credit add-on to an existing class.

Work with our committed team of student leaders, UW-Madison faculty and staff, and non-profit partners to build the technology capacity of local community organizations. Students work one-on-one with non-profit staff in order to meet the technology needs of the organization over the course of the semester. The Spring 2009 project theme is using Web 2.0 technologies (social networking, blogging, online photos and videos, podcasting) to advance the work of our non-profit partners.

Students from all disciplines are welcome! Good communication skills and willingness to develop expertise in the selected technology topics are required. The 40-hour commitment (over the semester) includes all training and service requirements.

Visit our website to fill out an application:
http://comm-org.wisc.edu/techshop/news.php

Applications are due January 26 at noon.

Contact Nikki Gilbertson at ngilbertson@wisc.edu for more information on the application and interview process.

Course readers are in

The LIS 640 xeroxed course reader is ready at ASM Student Print, for the low, low price of $24.60

Getting ready for Spring 2009

Hi folks. I'm reworking our "digital divides and differences" class for the new semester (as usual) so check back once classes start. This year we have a "One Laptop Per Child" machine to play with, and I'm going to build in some interesting wiki-based writing as well.

Conservative and Liberals Bloggers Get Organized

Court Nominee In the Eye of the Blogger Swarm

By Howard Kurtz
Washington Post Staff Writer
Thursday, July 21, 2005; C01

At 1:27 a.m. yesterday, the Guerilla Women of Tennessee weighed in on President Bush's Supreme Court nominee.

"John Roberts: Married to Anti-Choice Org VP," the group's Web site blared. Another site, A Liberal Dose, asked: "Why does John G. Roberts Hate Our Soldiers?"

And Feministing.com made no attempt at subtlety: "Why John Roberts Sucks."

The lightning-quick attacks came after 50 top liberal bloggers held a 45-minute conference call Tuesday night. "On the left, we've always talked about the need to have an echo chamber," says John Aravosis, a Washington lawyer and gay rights activist who writes at Americablog.com. "We believe the right has a whole media network, from talk radio to Fox News to Matt Drudge. The left doesn't have that because the left doesn't play well with others."

This is the first Supreme Court nomination of the Internet age, meaning that liberal and conservative opinion-mongers are already blanketing cyberspace with arguments, facts, taunts, polemics, gossip and electronic links to raw data, hoping to rally the faithful and influence the mainstream media coverage.

The conference call was arranged by BlogPAC, a political action committee that got some of its members on the phone with Sen. Ted Kennedy on the day that Sandra Day O'Connor announced she was leaving the court. The group has also held calls with Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid (Nev.), Sen. Russell Feingold (D-Wis.) and the liberal organizations involved in the nomination battle, including MoveOn, Alliance for Justice, NARAL and People for the American Way.

Kennedy "reached out to them directly to convey the impact that this decision will have on hundreds of millions of Americans, whose last line of defense for their freedoms and liberties is the Supreme Court," says Laura Capps, the senator's spokeswoman.

Such coordination seems to defy the image of bloggers as iconoclastic lone rangers, pounding the keyboards in their bedrooms and basements without regard to interest-group politics. Bloggers, after all, come from all walks of life, building a following on the strength of their words and ability to draw attention from other Web diarists. They have also proven to be a formidable fundraising force, raising $80,000 on Tuesday for a Democratic candidate in a special House election in Ohio.

The purpose of Tuesday night's call was "to agree on where we want to work as a swarm and divide that from where we want to work individually," says Bob Brigham, a San Francisco political activist who runs BlogPAC. (Its founders include Aravosis and Markos Moulitsas, who runs the popular site Daily Kos.) A swarm, in online lingo, is when legions of bloggers jump on the same issue, as when conservative Web sites attacked Dan Rather's CBS report on President Bush's National Guard record.

"We dumped a ton of opposition research on Roberts" after the call, Brigham says. The bloggers also agreed during that discussion to keep hammering on Karl Rove and the CIA leak story.

On the Roberts nomination, though, not all left-wing bloggers are marching in lockstep. Moulitsas wrote that while Roberts has only two years of judicial experience, "I'm willing to hear the guy out. We're not going to get a Ginsburg, but I'd be happy with an O'Connor-style moderate conservative. For all we know (and for all the religious-right knows), Roberts might be that sort of guy."

Jeralyn Merritt, a Denver defense lawyer who writes the TalkLeft blog, told readers that "it's too soon to start opposing Judge John G. Roberts. Most of us knew nothing about him. . . . I don't think it helps that liberal groups are coming out swinging so soon."

Joshua Micah Marshall, who holds a doctorate in history from Brown University and recently moved from Washington to New York, launched a Supreme Court section yesterday on a spinoff of his Talking Points Memo site.

The first entry was from Yale law professor Robert Gordon, who said of Roberts: "He enjoys the kind of respect Kenneth Starr had before embarking on his anti-Clinton crusade, as a safe, sound man, not an ideological zealot like Edith Jones or wacko like Janice Rogers Brown. These qualities are going to make Roberts's confirmation easier. They are also what make him dangerous."

Marshall says liberal bloggers would probably play a bigger role in galvanizing the opposition had Bush picked a more incendiary nominee. "There will be less fireworks than there might have been if it was a more controversial person," he says. "We're trying to get people who have expertise and are interested in writing in this new medium. I have no particular expertise on jurisprudence."

Conservative bloggers, of course, have been out in force as well. Forty-five minutes after Bush's announcement, National Review Editor Rich Lowry posted this reaction: "Roberts is brilliant and solid. He has a good temperament and he's very likable. There's no downside. . . . And Bush has kept his promise to nominate someone in the mold of [Antonin] Scalia and [Clarence] Thomas."

Says Glenn Reynolds, the conservative University of Tennessee law professor better known as Instapundit: "Bloggers are going to be very big on cutting through the slogans to the facts and holding people up against the statements they've made in the past. They're going to make it hard for Democrats and Republicans who took a different position on Clinton nominees than they have on Bush nominees."

But there has been a lack of enthusiasm among some bloggers on the right. "As someone whose professional life has almost entirely taken place 'inside the Beltway,' Roberts has been far removed from the day-to-day concerns of 'fly-over' America," wrote RedState.com. ". . . The nomination of Roberts serves to increase the disillusionment of these traditionalists with Bush's performance in his second term."

One strength of the blogosphere -- its real-time ability to vacuum up thousands of facts -- has been on display with the Roberts nomination. SwingStateProject.com posted excerpts of a 1997 court ruling in which Roberts, representing a pork producer in a clean water case, was accused of making a misleading argument, according to the Web site. The Liberal Dose site (which featured a doctored photo of Roberts making an obscene gesture) pointed to a 2004 ruling joined by Judge Roberts that threw out an award of nearly $1 billion to 17 Americans who said they were abused while imprisoned in Iraq during the 1991 Gulf War.

Aravosis, who helped expose the X-rated past of conservative White House reporter Jeff Gannon, wasted little time. He wrote Tuesday night that Roberts "sounds like a partisan hack" and posted statements from Democratic National Committee Chairman Howard Dean, Planned Parenthood, NARAL, the Human Rights Campaign and People for the American Way.

But Aravosis sees no prospect of his blogging colleagues sticking to a set of talking points. "It's like herding cats," he says. "You can get 40 cats in a room, but you can't herd them."

Thanks for a great semester!

LIS 640 is now closed. I'm going to leave all of the commentary up here on Blogger, though, for someday I'll get the chance to teach this class again and I want my next group of students to see the good work you've all done. I'm also going to let you all remain members of the weblog, so if you're inclined to offer some wisdom to a future iteration of this seminar, be my guest.

You folks were a great class and I hope you all got something useful out of our collective labors, both in discussion and online.

(Anyone desperately in need of a blog fix can check out my own humble venture, Uncovering Information Labor.)

Cheers,

GREG

Intel pays $10,000 for old magazine

Intel pays $10,000 for old magazine
Written by Ravdeep Hora cooltechzone.com
Sunday, 24 April 2005

--- Intel Corp., world’s largest chipmaker, posted a reward for a 40-year old April 1965 issue of Electronics magazine earlier this month; the chipmaker rewarded an Engineer who still had the near-mint condition copy with $10,000.
Intel wanted the magazine because it contained an accurate forecast of the company’s co-founder, Gordon Moore, who predicted the exponential growth of chip performance 40 years prior to the changes. His forecast has been nicknamed as Moore’s Law, which has a reputation in the $200 billion chip industry.

Intel posted the information on eBay, world’s largest auction site, which led to about two-dozen leads, according to Intel. Intel said majority of the leads were reprinted copies, photocopies or originals that were attached to other publications.

While Intel was confirming leads, an Engineer was searching around his house and managed to find his original copy of the magazine under his floorboards. David Clark, who resides in Surrey, England said, "It is the most bizarre thing that has ever happened to me," in an interview with BBC.

Intel’s $10,000 announcement had librarians around the United States worried about their archived issues. Many libraries had their issues put away securely and out of public displays before bounty hunters stormed facilities in search of the magazine. Numerous librarians are infuriated about Intel’s decision. Although many libraries were able to put their copies away safely, the library of University of Illinois was one of the unfortunate ones who had one of its copies stolen in hopes of the bounty. It did manage to secure its second copy, though.

Intel said it received two other leads with authentic copies, but neither of them was comparative to Clark’s copy, quality wise.

The chipmaker said it will display the magazine in its company headquarters Museum for public display in Santa Clara, California next week. The company also said that it might purchase more copies: one for archival purposes for the museum and another one for Gordon Moore himself who lost his copy after lending it to someone.

HDTV divide

This MSNBC article caught my eye -- it's about the HDTV switchover, and how millions of homes with TVs that use antennae (mostly lower-income African-Americans and Latinos) could be left with no ability to receive TV signals:

http://msnbc.msn.com/id/6448213/did/7593620/

Final question

Do you really think it is necessary to provide access to every household to bridge the digital divide gap?
I mean, I think that it is really important that every public place have an access, granting this way people to get there free access. I'm referring to schools, and neighborhood centers, and libraries, and stuff. I also strongly believe that it is really, really important that schools provide basic training and electronic alphabetization because, in my opinion, that could be the major force to close the digital gap. Education will be, at least that is what I believe, the force that could make everybody in touch with some kind of knowledge of ICT.
But I also think that the medium (the Internet) is too young to arrive at the conclusion that there is a digital divide. I mean, personally I think that it is right to be worried about the consequences that a digital divide could have once the medium would be fully developed and that it is right to think about policies that are developed to avoid bad possible consequences of a fully developed Internet that leaves someone behind - let's say preventive policies.
But I also think that some of the articles we saw during the semester gave to me the impression that sometimes digital divide is just a catchy scaring frase to pump the market.
Hey, here I'm playng the devil advocate, take it as a sort of provocation.
Sometimes I feel like digital divide is a way to enhance poloicies that will make companies do more money because, hey, if we could convince policimakers that everybody needs a computer it would be a lot of money. Some like that, do you know what I mean? I know it's very simplistic, but it's a provocation after all. And it's just a feeling I have and it's hard to explain too.
If you got it tell me what do you think.

Cause and effect

In the Bishop et al article, it states 'the perceived danger of the digital divide is that lower socioeconomic status (SES) is both a cause and effect of limited access to information and technology' (p.363).
Assuming that limted access to information (or resources) is a cause of lower SES then this problem existed long before technology (and the digital divide). It would seem then that one of the coping strategies in the SES is to rely on informal networks as a source of information (as noted in the results of the article). If this group has traditionally relied on informal networks as a source of information, it seems that providing access still does not address the information needs of the group. The first step seems to be more education on what is available on-line -- ie motivate the user to be on-line and then provide address the access and use issues.
Which do you think is more important or necessary -- access or a reason to be on-line? There seems to be an assumption that if you put it on-line, people will browse it...

FINALLY

I feel that this article has finally explained the digital divide in a useful way. Like Rachel said last time, what is the point of talking about people who don't want to use a computer when there are people who do and don't have access? The first article presented the digital divide (albeit a small subset of it) so clearly. Here we finally find a group of people who clearly want to be engaged in computer and internet use and just don't have the access. They frequent the library and they want the computer use for their own research and for their children but can't find it. What I found most striking though was how many respondents claimed feelings of inclusion and not being left behind or out as a reason they would like to become involved and educated in digital technology. If providing computers and networks is one way to make the disenfranchised feel less so, I am behind it. I wish we had read this at the beginning!

Blue Rhino

Has anyone else seen ads for this? It's a company called "Blue Hippo" and they apparently provide loans for the purchase of personal computers and internet access. They don't give the terms of the loan, but say that "bad credit? no credit? not a problem" -- so my guess the interest rates are overwhelming. They show people of many ethnicities... mostly African American or Latino using computers or talking about how they "never thought" they'd be able to own one. At one point, a child says "Mom, can I get on the computer," and she replies "no, I'm still using it..."

The target of the ad is pretty clear -- low income families -- and its interesting -- and disturbing -- how advertising terms usually heard in check cashing store ads being applied to the Internet.

Their website is at https://www.asseenontvnetwork.com/vcc/bluehippofunding/bluehippofunding2/127151/
and some of their offers are listed there...

Interesting to apply this to this week's reading...

Trisha's comment

I have to agree with Trisha on her comment that other money might be used for community tech centers.

EPIC should step up and sponsor one in South Madison, WPS in the Broadway area, Oscar Meyer/Kraft on the Northside, and TDS for the Westside folks. American Family for the far east residents.

Public/private partnerships seem like the best hope here. -mc

Re: "I hang out here, where I know it's safe"

In the Bishop article, I think it becomes somewhat clear what obstacles exist that make divide issues, digital and otherwise, really hard to overcome.

Where I worked in inner city Houston, the Quitman Branch of the Houston Public Library was one of the SAFER places to hang out, especially for some of my students who lived in the housing project a third of mile away. Really there were no safe havens, but school and the library were better than most.

We were a little behind in 1998, the last year I worked there, with integrating the Web into the curriculm. We actually had no library at the high school, so we used the public library as a poor substitute. The best thing about the place, naturally, was the staff. They were very helpful. I don't recall using the computers a lot there at the time, but I do recall some limited searching with students.

These days, I would guess that among many families in the neighborhood who do not even own a car, there is probably very little PC ownership. What there is is probably more like the unreliable, outdated examples that Bishop raised.

Learning the web

In the Bishop article, as well as some of the others this week, there was a lot of focus on not just getting computer access to people, but teaching individuals HOW to use computers and the internet. Last week in discussion, a lot of people stated that knowledge was an important part of the digital divide. In discussing the Bill Gates scenario, with all the funding that we would propose to use, how could the technology information get spread to individuals without experience? Should it target only those people who want to learn, or should it be of some requirement? (ok like that could happen, but in a perfect world what would you say?) In the same regards, should it be a part of some sort of government regulation?

the bottom line about access

The common thread this week, I think, is that access to information technology will never stick without buy-in from those receiving access. Bishop et al. says: "professionals [should] work with residents to create online resources that are usable, useful, and meaningful" (386). Servon-Nelson says "a critical mass of engaged citizens" are required to keep projects alive and expanding (425). Wilhelm says that a policy emphasis needs to be on "interfaces for semi-literate users and persons with disabilities" made possible by "ascertaining community needs". And the Labaton article on yanking out e-rate money brings home the fact that policy from the top can also wreck chances for access, even if temporarily. My question would be this: if the socioeconomic groups that do not have access also do not have a strong voice during elections and in the legislatures, how is the digital divide going to get recitifed in a way that IS responsive to the under-served's needs?

On another note, a recent artcile exapnds on the Bishop study and shows Champaign-Urbana pushing forward with access initiatives. Does this town have the "critical mass" of concerned citizens that's making their project a success? http://wifinetnews.com/archives/cat_community_networking.html

community technology centers

In Community Technology Centers... on page 425, Servon and Nelson claim that their case studies illustrate the importance of local government support in starting and running community technology centers/intiatives. Did those studies really show that? I don't know that their studies showed that, but I also am not sure how you could run one without it... Is that true, do community technology centers need local government support or could they be created using other sources?

The role of libraries

In reading "Public Libraries and Networked Information Services in Low-Income Communities", I started to wonder about the common assumption that it is the role of libraries to provide public Internet access. The article mentions that traditionally the purpose of libraries has been to give people access to books, not introduce them to new technology. And libraries didn't really play a significant role in helping people to gain access to radio, telephones, and televisions.

Libraries have provided free Internet access for years and I wouldn't suggest changing now, but should this really be the responsibility of libraries? Why not have, say, post offices with public Internet terminals? Or maybe the local tourism board should be concerned with setting up public Internet access at tourist information centers. Or perhaps libraries really are the best institutions to address this issue after all...but I thought it would be interesting to question the assumption and think about whether any other public institutions should be called upon to help out too.

Britain's Prince Harry fails basic computer test

Britain's Prince Harry fails basic computer test at army college
Fri Apr 15, 1:36 PM ET

Offbeat - AFP
LONDON (AFP) - Prince Harry, the 20-year-old younger son of heir to the British throne Prince Charles, has failed a basic computer test at Sandhurst army college.

"Although the computer test was a lot more complex than just sending e-mail, instructors were amazed that Harry failed it," an unnamed military insider was quoted as saying in the Daily Mirror newspaper Friday.

"He seemed to lack the same skills as other recruits," the source said. Harry was due to start at the college on May 8.

Re: Greg's Proposal

Greg,

Although I think the assignment NOT to use technology would be a valuable experience, you are likely to face either stiff resistance and resentment or flagrant cheating.

Most of us use the computer for coursework almost constantly. To put that much of a burden on students to suspend their work for a week would be unreasonable for just one course.

I've been on the computer for about two hours, both for this class and for 551 & 561 this morning. I would never catch up again if I had to stay off for a week.

Great idea, but it would be a VERY difficult sell. -mc

pondering job use

In the article "Eluding the Web's Snare", there was a doctor mentioned that was a chiropractor that didn't use the internet for her company. We've sort of discussed this topic in class before, but I find it really interesting that there are businesses that don't use the internet. Do you think that businesses that don't use the internet can survive in the business world today? From my experience recently with contacting doctors, email actually was the easiest. I was able to get in direct contact with the doctors right away rather than trying to go through their secretaries and have a game of phone tag for awhile until we were actually able to talk. Email was so much more convenient.

The unwired LOVE the internet

For starters I don't know what the "unwired side" refers to exactly when discussing pre-internet but Compaine states, "Current rates of adoption for those groups variously included on the unwired side of the early digital divide are greater than for the population as a whole." I find this statistic highly intriguing. Why would people who resisted or at least failed to embrace communication technology previously take so readily to computer/internet access? I could understand if the previously unwired referred to those without a television but if they are talking about telephone-less and radio-less as well, I find this very striking. How would you rate computer/internet use among other "wired" technologies that exist? Do you use if far more than the others, about equal, less? Is one more outwardly appealing than another? What this previously unwired group so by choice or financial constraints?

A new assignment that I'll subject my next digital divides & differences class to ...

Reading the posts this week inspired me to design a new assignment -- but in the interests of fairness I won't subject you guys to it. The challenge of the assignment would be to go "offline" for a week. Part of this would involve banning personal digital devices like iPods, cell phones, PDAs, and whatever else you folks carry around (personal satellite radio, anyone?). The big deprivation would of course be computer-mediated communication. But instead of simply banning use of email, chat, and Web-surfing, for example, the assignment would mandate no computer use of any kind (word processing, gaming, running a spreadsheet) at any computer either owned by you, present in your household, open to you by virtue of where you work, or open to you by virtue of where you go to school (eg. no use of UW computer labs). The only exception open to you for using a computer? The public library.

What do you think, should I put this in next year's syllabus?

Digital Opportunity Crew

I agree with Rachel. If I think of digital divide, I think of someone who would like to access ICT, but can't. I think that policies that are trying to bridge these kind of gaps should be pursued, especially if ICT access is perceived by have nots as needed.

But, going back to Trisha's question, I don't see any good reason why everybody MUST have a computer and Internet. People should be free not to use computers, if they don't find any use for them.
I see, though, several reasons why people SHOULD use them.

If I understood Eric right, the underwater cable gave new communication opportunities that soon became indispensable. I think ICT is doing the same because it is becoming more and more used and useful.
ICT is part of the world as it is now. It is a widespread tool that we can use for several purposes and uses. And more and more people, organizations, and companies find that this set of tools is useful to do tasks (communication is one of them, maybe the biggest one). There are different uses and different tasks. There are different users and different non-users. As for that I think that ICT as a tool should be seen as a RELATIVE need, not as an ABSOLUTE need. You need it relatively to your life, to your needs (which could be multiples).

Thinking of ICT in this way (associated to this week readings) is convincing me more and more that there's no need to panic about a cataclysmic digital divide. Furthermore I think that ICT, Internet and computers are relatively new tools that are still growing. Let' skeep them tracked in many ways. Let's study them as a phenomenon. But let's also wait them to grow up naturally before feraking out. Let's see where their natural development will bring them as tools, then let's try to solve eventual problems.

Yes, I'm totally in the "digital opportunity" crew.

Diffusion and Social Organization

Readings this week brought to mind a 1977 article on diffusion theory by James Blaut. It really can speak to all the articles, especially Selwyn. Blaut is arguing that theories that place "information need" at the heart of whether an innovation spreads or not are essentially overlooking the WHOLE rest of human social organization. Duh. He asks, "Why is diffusion only the narrow transition from IS NOT to IS, and isn't it very ethnocentric and elitist to assume that bits of information are more important than other processes?" He has a good point, and wonders, like others in our class did, why those who resist an innovation are so studied. He says- because of the position of the researchers. Then Blaut makes another good point that explosively rapid diffusion (like the internet) is always driven by economic factors, not need for information. The socioeconomic has to be satisfied before Maslow's hierarchy hits the top. So my question this week is in the positional vein of Selwyn's "technological determinist" comments...Does the divide only exist if you are socioeconomically 'tall' enough to see the gap?

Is the internet for everyone?

So the problem as I seeit is that these "rural or rustic people" need the option of technology and internet, but once they get it who is to say they will use it? There are people out there who really don't need the information most of the internet supplies for there job or well being, but these people must realize that since the economy has been known to fluxuate and jobs aren't always easy to get, and that knowledge of technology, computers and the internet could be crucial to finding a new career. I know that this is a topic we've covered at least once in class already, but that's the main feeling I got as I finished the reading for this week. As for Net Evaders, I see no hope of the internet ever reaching everyone. The television, cars, phones and radio still aren't used by 100% of the population. But as we said, they know it's out there, they know it isn't a fad, it's becoming ingrained in culture and the workplace, so if they don't see a use for it in their lives than who are we to push it on them? Oh wait, I guess we do try to push information on people a little don't we?
I'm sorry, this became a much more angry and sarcastic blog than I intended it to be. I have no ill feelings toward the librarians and info. gatherers. Some info. dispensers I have a problem with but this blog site isn't a forum for discussing things we hate. I don't think we really push information on people, but try and get people to want to be informed. I'm just tired and cranky, don't pay attention to me.

Two responses

...really, they go together in my head.

In response to Rachel, I see the digital divide defined in one of two ways.
1) Every divide is a divide. People who can't get on because they live in a rural town and are seperated from the wonders of the net? Sure. People who can't afford to get on and thus lose opportunity? Why not. People who have computers and access to the net, but lack content applicable to their culture? Absolutely. Lack of special needs access? A divide. Computer screen leaves you with a headache? A divide. And so on. A divide is a divide.

2) A divide keeps you from the most important purpose of Information Technology. That usage is...

And since I can't complete sentence 2, I'll have to stick with 1, even though I am troubled by the idea that income disparity can be grouped in with "bored with typing." But "stratification" covers a wide swath of issues, so why not the digidivide?

And that takes me to Trisha's comment. I don't think there is a set of aspects to info tech that *everyone* must have. Until there is Inter-clothes, or the World Wide Food Pantry or something, it doesn't rise to the level of that to me. That's not to say there are aspects everyone should have, or would like to have, or I'd like to see everyone have -- but usage preferences and purposes are unique enough, and I'm wimpy enough, that I just don't see an indesputable answer.

I don't mean to be contradictory, or appear to dismiss good questions. But there was a fascinating doc on PBS the other night at some ungodly the-baby-has-croup-and-now-I'm-awake-so-let's-see-what's-on hour about the effort to run the first transatlantic underwater telegraph cable. It was a joke for a while, then a fascinating attempt, humilating failure, postponed by civil war, and ultimately, rousing success. Technology was created, reappropriated, refined and re-understood to get this thing off the ground (or, more accurately, under the water).

Once it was achieved, instant communication between Europe and US never ceased. No one really needed it before, but, woah nelly, try to convince people that the price of wheat shouldn't be the same world-wide afterwards.

I mean, there was just one cable at first -- and now, who can't call Bangladesh if so moved? There was quite a divide once, but the forces of commerce, industry and soybean futures turned lack of access into a shocking rarity. What was left was need, and economics, but those are the constants.

Maybe it's a red herring of a metaphore, but at some ungodly the-baby-woke-up-again-why-if-we-can-have-the-internet-can't-they-give-me-some-bubble-gum-flavored-mush-to-feed-the-kid-to-deal-with-this-croup-thing-dammit hour it all connected in my head.

Different Digital Divides?

We have discussed throughout this class about the different internet users and why people aren’t going online. I wonder why so many articles have been dedicated to why people chose not to go online, or why people have stopped going online. To me the true digital divide is when a group of people can’t get online. Does anyone else feel this as well? I only think of the digital divide when someone wants to be online, but has no means of doing so. They are at a disadvantage because the option isn’t there. And as for going online as a choice or a necessity, it all depends. I think any form of “infotainment” isn’t necessarily part of the digital divide. I’d probably be happy reading my physical copy of Entertainment Weekly every week, but I love to read Entertainment Weekly online every day. I don’t have to, but I have that option. However, when it becomes mandatory to file your taxes online, suddenly certain parts of society are put at a disadvantage, either by paying a high premium to file paper copies, or risk the consequences of not filing at all (maybe this is a bit extreme, but still a feasible situation in the future). I just wonder if the focus of solving the digital divide is concentrated on the wrong people.

what actually matters?

I'm leading the discussion on Friday with Eric...and so my question is broad(ish) but I think it will help me plan a bit for the discussion.
What aspects of the internet or computers do you personally value enough to make you believe that everyone (or almost everyone) should have it/them?
(e.g. I think it is important that everyone understand about the internet and how things available on it may not be "truth")
Note: This question was hard for me, I tend to find it easier to come up with things that I don't think people need than those I think they do need.

More on Net Evaders

What sort of 'frightens me' about Net Evaders is that they're afraid of becoming hopeless addicts, strung out on chat rooms, "Only coming up to eat," as one person put it in the NY Times Hafner article.

I don't know what people are expecting that is SOOOOOO compelling. Sounds a little like the fear of drug addiction. Hate to tell those people, but downloading a PDF File, shopping on Niemann Marcus online, or playing a game with some stranger in Little Rock isn't exactly tugging on the 'rockpipe'. Guess I don't get all tingly when I save four bucks by looking at the Sunday NY Times online, it's just nice to save the four bucks.

What IS clear from the Compaine "Declare the War Won" article is that, just like recreational drug use, we have to pay plenty for our Web habits. I pay $25 a month for my slow-end DSL line - and that price is because I subscribe for two years and because our phone service is also TDS. Ain't cheap. I was paying the same for a 128K line, until I noticed they weren't even offering that service to new subscribers, and I called to ask if I could be bumped up a level. I'm sure there are plenty of people who still pay what I did for service more than twice as slow.

For those reasons I can understand why people drop out. Unless you have a particular use for getting online regularly, like checking email or for school or work, it's a lot to pay for very modest satisfaction. Americans want more for their 'Infotainment' buck.

Too much of a good thing?

A couple of the articles this week addressed Internet non-users that don't want to use the Internet, and challenged the assumption that Internet use is necessarily a good thing.

I wouldn't want to become one of those "Net dropouts", but recently I have been feeling that the Net takes up too much of my time. I have a subscription to a premium site that's going to expire in a couple of weeks, and I'm not going to renew. I use the site all the time, but that's the problem. I feel like after work and school, all my free time is spent online.

I never thought I'd ask this question but...can we have too much Internet? Is it better to have some limits on our access?

On the other hand, I am on a dial-up. If I had high-speed Internet at home, I could do everything I do now in a smaller amount of time. Or maybe that's just what I tell myself!

Better late blogging than never?

I didn't really 'enjoy' the prediction of the member of the 'creative class' that Kotkin wrote about which envisioned "Twenty-five years of prosperity, freedom and a better environment." Kotkin was published in 2000, before the recession, the Patriot Act and the dismantling of the Clean Air Act in favor of the 'Clear skies inititative'. Why were they so wrong?

Perhaps some of the explanation can be found in Gertner & Goss (sounds like a law firm). Voters have been manipulated in frightening ways since September 11th: Terror Alerts, 'God, gays & guns', 'Security moms', plus now we have Terry Shiavo, who, according to the Onion, died of embarrassment. Who among us, as Americans, is immune to that possibility?

Yet, there is hope. Just yesterday the NY Times reported that Taco Bell has finally submitted to the demands of labor groups to at least consider the migrant population who harvests its produce.

Marketing is sucking my soul and identity

When I saw that this weeks reading was basically on marketing and demographics I immediately became depressed. The fact that these companies and political candidates take so much time and money to try and find out the details of peoples' personal lives and what they buy makes me wonder about modern society. I know that I've been brainwashed, in a way, to believe that I'm unique, unpredictable, and not want to be categorized, but still it worries me. People aren't that easy to categorize. Think about what impulse buys must do to these data gatherers. It makes me sad to think that we are in essence forced to adhere to a certain lifestyle or identity because these companies look at the geodemographics of an area and make sure people buy only things that comply to the consumers lifestyle needs. What about people who don't fit into their geodemographic, like Kelly? That's why I like living in a big city, where you don't have to go to far to find any kind of store you want (except a bait shop maybe).

My shirts aren't private???

In the Gertner article, I found it sickly fascinating how much information there actually is out in the world about each individual. I assumed that there was some info out there about certain aspects of our lives, but the fact that information can be tracked down to what stores we buy shirts from and have that tagged into a political campaign for one candidate or another! I thought this was insane. Obviously there are stereotypes that go along with which political party you side with, but I never realized that politicians would go down to the nitty gritty details of our lives to try and decipher what party we should be affiliated with so that they can target us. This invasion of privacy I find to be ridiculous to a degree. What if I just simply like shopping at J Crew? What's the difference in my mind about the clothing they sell rather than the fact that I'm getting clothes there to "be true" to a political preference? Is there a line that the government has to decipher what the different demographics can lead to? Is that extra invasion of privacy necessary for their win in an election? (How much do you feel it actually helps?)

Big Brother, Inc.

I found the Jon Goss article especially interesting. While I had heard of similar things before I was unaware of the extent companies go to profile their customer and potential customer base. I don't feel that it is a problem either. Industry has always reacted to and reflected the market. The difference now is that they are more efficient with it. Is this any different than what libraries try to do through survey's and keeping circulation records in efforts to better serve their patrons? I tend to think not. It sounded like much of the personal data came from people already making purchases with a particular company. If I buy something from someone I should assume they are going to use the information I give them.

What I did find particularly disturbing though is how the government (as Luca pointed out) may or may not sell personal information to companies and also gain information from such companies. The idea of the IRS checking in on someones credit card bills is a frightening prospect.

One last note, I can imagine that someone from a communist country, where supply is not generally worried about reflecting demand, they might find this system wonderful. Finally their purchasing interests are being met more effectively!

I 'm 30 something and drive a Pinto ... Do you know who I am..

Okay so my title is a joke... But seems to get at the heart of one of the issues in the Gertner article. While I understand that the purpose of marketing is to get the target audeince to identify with something in the ad and thus purchase the product, I am disturbed by the link between marketing and politics.
First, I am disturbed that so much of what I had thought to be 'private' personal information is available.. ( and for sell). Secondly, I am disturbed that the sum of my life choices are being analyzed and then evaluated so that I fit a certain profile that is then targeted or not... In the past, assumptions about political allegiances were drawn based on the 'good ole' socioeconomic indicators (typically race and class). So I wonder what choices have I made that would indicate my political preferences -- my toothpaste or my deodorant... Okay seriously, do you think that there is a bona fide link/correlation between the information in the megadatabases and your political choices? Among other things, the article identifies newspaper and automobile... Do you agree... What else would you add to the list... As an afterthought one thing seems to be missing -- Internet use... Can it be used as an indicator of one's political preference?

Is the Government selling or not?

From Goss article, page 178.
"Government agencies have realized the commercial value of the data they gather for the purpose of public administration and sell data to offset the cost of production. Both the U.S. Bureau of the Census and the U.S. Postal Servicehave provided privileged access to their data to information conglomerates, allowing private interests to profit from a socially produced resource." And later on: "Local governments have initiated [to sell] their information to private users and [negotiate] contracts with companies that creates and maintain data bases in return for rights to sell this information to other clients."

How is that possible? Is there any law to avoid that?

Then, in the same article: "Legislation restricting the unauthorized release of personal data by public and private institutions includes the Privacy Act, which regulates disclosure of individual records by the federal government."

Does this mean that, with the Privacy Act, government institutions and local institutions could not sell any longer information?

libraries and place

I have a few questions about Kotkin's article "Digital geography".
First, I wonder if most of you agree with Kotkin about a possible "new geography" or if you lean more towards believing increased computer/internet use will lead to an "antigeography" or "placelessness" as explained in the introduction of his chapter?
I am additionally curious about the effects of the new geography (including the creation of nerdistans and midopolis) will have on library use. Does this mean that libraries will become more useful in certain older suburbs/cities because they are less digital and need information? Or maybe libraries will be used more in places where the patrons are already interested in information and technology? For example, if Kotkin is correct about people moving to new places for civic involvement and aesthetics in the future more than in the past, does this apply to more than just moving to new towns/cities? Might this idea of space also apply to things as small as individual buildings...will the fact that people want to be engaged in community and culture actually make library use rise, especially if things like wireless were adopted throughout libraries?

Personal is political

At first while reading this article I didn't see much of a problem with the political strategy of targeting individual voters. If they're going to send you a bunch of flyers and stuff anyway, it might as well be about issues you're interested in.

However, the scenario presented at the end of the article is disturbing. Politicians might be able to stop publicizing a platform based on their own beliefs and intent, and just tell everyone what they want to hear. My question for this week is, do you think they could get away with this? Would it be possible to tell Voter A "I'll increase welfare programs and cut military spending" and Voter B "I'll increase military spendin and cut welfare programs" and not have people catch on? If the politican were elected and then did as she or he liked without regard to campaign promises, would they be held accountable?

New and Diverse Neighborhoods?

In the “Digital Geography” article, Kotkin discusses how new and favorable cities are arising. While San Francisco, Denver, Seattle and Boston are thriving in this new techno world, other large metropolitan areas like New York and Chicago only seem to have pockets of success, leaving other parts of the city in hopeless devastation. He also discussed how neighborhoods, when faced with the fact they can’t compete in the digital age, revert back to a pre-industrial way of life, “…such as cross-cultural trades, the arts and specialized craft-based production…” Has this really been happening? What more can be done to create a diverse and non-technology economy?

Virtual Identity in Real Places

Goss' article about geodemographics emphasizes a good point--that there may be no escape from geodemography. His 3 points about alternative strategies for marketers is right on target, and likely already happening as he wrote. Make loss of privacy a condition of consumption, make it attractive for better service, or to improve modeling and analysis with the little data they have. Option 3 is perhaps the worst. More wrong assumptions may be made faster about the few that allow privacy co-opting. Sort of like political polling...But, my question this week is: How many of us, when forced to give gender, zipcode, or year of birth at point of sale have FUDGED and not given the right information--actually made up a VIRTUAL IDENTITY? I know that I do all the time. When I buy online services or products, I take on my dad's persona. It leads to some hilarious junk mail. Or I misspell my name, or put Apt #1 when I don't live in an apartment. I guess that's my resistance to privacy selling. Do marketers take this error rate into account or do they assume we all click the right demographics? But, as Goss notes, some key information sources cannot pinpoint people. The Census will not go beyond tract or block for most research due to privacy. That makes it hard for legitimate providers to target people who may need social services due to address blocking.

BTW, I'm in a hotel ladies room in Denver posting to our blog. They have a great wireless signal in here, and comfy couches!

Look up the geodemographic profile for your neighborhood

Here's a link to the Claritas PRIZM NE page, one of the systems mentioned in our reading. You can enter your ZIP code and see the profiles associated with the area.

You Are Where You Live

I don't think any of the ones for my ZIP sound like me, though!

Around the globe, students 'do worse with computers' but better with books

An interesting article in the UK Guardian that's relevant to our recent class discussions:

An international study of about 100,000 15-year-olds in 32 different developed and developing countries suggests that the drive to equip an increasing number of schoolchildren in the UK with computers may be misplaced.

In a report to be given at the conference of the Royal Economic Society in Nottingham this week, Thomas Fuchs and Ludger Woessmann of Munich University say the research shows diminished performance in students with computers.

'Holding other family characteristics constant, students perform significantly worse if they have computers at home,' it says.

'This may reflect the fact that computers at home may actually distract students from learning, both because learning with computers may not be the most efficient way of learning and because computers can be used for other aims than learning.'

But if computers don't help then plenty of books at home do. The authors of the report found that 'students with more than 500 books in their homes performed better in maths and science than those with none'.

The "digital gap" in Israel

From an article in the Israeli business press (Globes [online] - Get digital) which illustrates how what we call the "digital divide" is conceptualized by corporate advocates in other countries:

The added value of information industries is based primarily on high-quality workers, not raw materials or energy. In order to highlight how this revolution can be utilized for our benefit, I will cite two figures. The average output of an Israeli worker in conventional industry is $25,000 per year, while the average output of a information industry worker can reach $200,000 a year, or even $1 million a year (in the microelectronic industry).

Unfortunately, we don’t have enough of these workers, and we aren’t doing enough to create them more quickly. Countries like China and India produce a million software personnel and electronics engineers per year; we produce just a few thousand. This fact alone is opening a huge gap between us. If that is not enough, consider the following fact Israel currently has 600,000 children living below the poverty level. The vast majority of these children have no access to a computer or the Internet. In the top income decile, 75% of homes have a computer, and Internet access reaches 90%, compared with only 3% in the bottom decile. That is what the digital gap means.

There is an enormous difference between children who have learned to use a computer and surf the Internet in third grade, and those who reach this stage only in seventh grade. In contrast to a social and economic gap, which can closed, this digital gap cannot be closed. If we do not teach our children how to use modern technology, they will be lost to the information industry. They will have difficulty finding suitable employment with a proper salary, and will be doomed to remain in the poverty cycle. If, on the other hand, we make 400,000 poor children into future workers in the high-tech industry, instead of simple industrial workers, our GDP will leap 50%. Instead of per capital GDP of $16,000-17,000, we will reach $25,000, like the advanced countries.

Pretty fallacious logic there at the end, I'd argue ... but representative of the globally-circulating utopian arguments about the potential to magically create super-productive workers (and firms, and economies) through single-minded investment in IT infrastructure, training, and investment.

Monster.com listings now used as an economic indicator

From a press release found online suggesting that the amount of help wanted ads posted on Monster.com was some sort of useful index to the health of the economy (which, as our discussion last time indicated, should be a dubious argument at best):

U.S. job-seekers found more online employment ads in March, Monster Worldwide Inc. said on Thursday, the latest sign of recovery in the labor market. The online job-posting firm said its employment index jumped to 130 in March -- the highest in its 1-1/2-year history -- from 122 in February. The increase should provide some encouragement to those hoping that March payrolls data on Friday will show sustained employment growth. 'Fifteen of the 20 industries tracked by the Monster Employment Index rose in March, suggesting increased hiring activity across a diverse range of companies,' the report said.

NPR April Fools

Okay, this year wasn't even hard to find, Mr. Downey.

Exploding maple trees?

It was about as subtle as the Bat Boy stories in the Weekly World News.

Hope NPR does better next year. -mc

who benefits?

I guess what I have been mulling over is-- Why are these decisions...to have computers in classrooms, or what will computers do to the job force...so difficult for us? Is it because this country has so many different contingencies of people? Does this make us not be able to discern which choices benefit us all (because there isn't an 'us all') ? Are we even usually trying to figure out what benefits us all?