COMMUNICATION
The Exclusive Internet
(This article was originally at 4-ever.org)
Although more and more people are now accessing the Internet, I feel it is becoming more exclusive. New people coming online are using broadband. To do that you need money. Yes, I am saying the net is a playground for the privileged.
Look But Don't Touch!
OK, here in the UK most libraries have fast connections, as do colleges and universities. But to really participate people need a home computer so they can create their own online presence or surf or shop at their own convenience. All the advertising now is Broadband, Broadband, Broadband. Perhaps the price will one day be the same as it is for dial-up - I certainly hope so - but at present it excludes a lot of people and most I talk to have the impression that the Internet is expensive. Well, it is and it isn't...
The Cheap Option
For 5 years I have paid £64 per year for semi-unlimited dial-up modem surfing at off-peak times (evenings, nights and weekends). To get the same amount of access using a faster connection would cost me at least £200 per year (please tell me if you know of better deals). Hardware prices are not much of an issue. I can pick up a perfectly adequate computer, modem and monitor for about £10 on the local market although I would be wiser to spend about £50 for a better one, provided I could afford it, of course.
And a lot of people just cannot afford that kind of money. Although the UK is wealthy, millions of people live in relative poverty never having enough money to dine out, go to the cinema or even go down the pub more than the odd occasion. So for these people, the net could be an ideal escape, if only it wasn't so exclusive...
Missing Out
Now I am happy to forego Flash-driven pages, highly graphical sites, quicktime movies, streaming video, podcasts, big software downloads, etc, etc, because my real happiness is independent of the outside world. A lot of people do not know where their happiness lies, however, and do not see why they shouldn't have as much access as anyone else. If they are going to have the Internet then they want the whole Internet. Hence all the advertising for broadband offering to give them what they don't have and therefore make them happy ever after. For a limited period only, of course!
Relative Poverty
So everything is fine then, you might say. People are getting what they want, aren't they? Well, no, actually. Poorer people are getting little or no Internet. Through public access the poor can watch but not join in, just as they can look in shop windows, look at people in their cars, look at the fat folk playing happy families, but they cannot participate. Of course, here in the UK, we are relatively wealthy and the poor will be the first to admit that their suffering is nothing compared with that of the starving millions on other continents. In fact the poor are often the first to offer help to those less fortunate than themselves.
But I do not think you need to be poor to understand the needs of the poor. All you need is to open your eyes and look and feel. Pause and consider for a moment. With one or two forks in destiny's path could you not be in the same situation?
Spare A Thought
Most of you reading this (anyone left? :) are probably relatively privileged web designers (pro or am) so please spare a thought for people with modems as you create your super-looking sites. Can you get the same effect with less graphics? Do you really need a flash intro? Is there any content visible while the graphics are loading? If you can cut down some bandwidth, people with modems are more likely to spend time on your site.