Digital Divide, Then and Now

It’s hard to imagine that just a few decades back, the term “digital divide” had such a low bar, writes Danny Crichton:

“Facility with using computers was determined by the ability to turn it on and log in, a bar so low that it can be shocking to the modern reader to think that a “divide” existed at all.”

Sounds almost laughable today, right?

 

Is today’s definition of the digital divide as one between those who know how to write software (“code”) v/s those who don’t? After all, as almost all information is digitized, the need for almost everyone to be able to slice and dice it, to interpret, has increased. Knowing how to use the formulas in MS Excel is one such skill. But we also see the rise of what are called “no-code platforms”:

“These tools are designed to make it much easier for users to harness the power of computing in their daily work.”

Such platforms do most of the heavy lifting, you just need to point it to your data files, and tweak the settings so the platform knows which parts of your data to process:

“The success and notoriety of these tools comes from the feeling that they grant superpowers to their users. Projects that once took a team of engineers some hours to build can now be stitched together in a couple of clicks through a user interface.”

 

But, if you want to make the most of these tools, you need to know, if not coding (writing software), then at least something close to it:

“No-code tools often require code, or at least, the sort of deductive logic that is intrinsic to coding… You have to think in terms of data, and about inputs, transformations and outputs.”

 

All of which is why Crichton says the modern-day digital divide is between those who view computers and mobile devices as “consumption screens” (WhatsApp, YouTube etc) v/s those who look at the same as “tools of self-expression, research and analysis”. For kids, the same app can be of dual use: do they use Minecraft to just build structures, like digital Lego blocks? Or do they use it to write their own plug-ins (software that can be added onto Minecraft)?

 

In an earlier era, not everyone had a computer and even fewer had Internet access, so you could be on the wrong side of the digital divide and still not pay a high price because, hey, most people were like you. Not anymore:

“The specialized, almost arcane knowledge of data analysis and engineering is being widely democratized for this new generation, and that’s precisely where a new digital divide is emerging.”