Who Is Getting Left Behind In the Internet Revolution? (sciencemag.org) 112
Reader sciencehabit writes: The internet is often hailed as a liberating technology. No matter who you are or what kind of country you live in, your voice can be amplified online and heard around the world. But that assumes that people can get on the internet in the first place. Research has shown that poverty and remoteness can prevent people from getting online, but a new study out today also shows that just belonging to a politically marginalized group can translate to poorer access. The study, published online today in Science, provides the first global map of the people being left behind by the internet revolution. Mapping the internet is hard. Although it is true that every computer with a connection has a real-world location, no one actually knows where they all are. Rather than being organized top-down, the world's computers are connected to each other by a bushy, redundant network of servers. Each country builds and maintains its own infrastructure for connecting citizens to the wider internet. The decision to expand and maintain the infrastructure in one region and not another is up to those in power. And therein lies the problem: Ethnic and religious minorities who are excluded from their country's political process may also be systematically excluded from the global internet.
In other news (Score:2)
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See North Korea for example. It isn't poverty, it is politics.
Not so fast! (Score:2, Insightful)
Lets start with the easy one. Remoteness is lumped in to Poverty. Hmm, I wonder why that is? It's the reason we tend to distrust media today in general. This is a open way to inflate the numbers and make people look worse than they are. Look, if you are Poor in the US you have access to much more than if you are at the bottom of middle class. That's not to say you have a higher chance of using them, but tax payers have put in all these programs.
Next, we go a bit more complex and say "Yes, history show
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Re: Not marginalized, farmed (Score:1)
The lucky ones!!! (Score:5, Insightful)
Who Is Getting Left Behind In the Internet Revolution?
The lucky ones }:-)
(runs & hides)
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I definitely agree. Been in IT my whole life (even before they paid me for it) - I become more luddite every day. Especially every day I read "appy apps for appy app apps".
The older I get, the more I do my job that supports the IoT, but take that money and get off the grid as far as I possibly can.
No one's voice is really heard these days, there's just more noise. Not everyone is getting a sudden global platform with a direct line to Obama. Internet COULD connect you to everyone does not mean it DOES.
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Agreed. It's more like dipping for statistical data or pieces of information to use to one's advantage (Confirmation Bias) - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/... [wikipedia.org]
It can be used to search for self-affirmation for stress reduction - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/... [wikipedia.org] , also tied tightly with The Cheerleader Effect - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/... [wikipedia.org] .
In-group Bias - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/... [wikipedia.org] , ending in Self-Serving Bias - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/... [wikipedia.org] , with Group Attribution Error - https://en.wikip [wikipedia.org]
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If "sovereignty of nations" were absolute, it would allow nations to abridge basic human rights, such as the right to get an education and participate in culture. So are you for absolute "sovereignty of nations" or for exceptions to that sovereignty when necessary to uphold human rights?
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Putting it into Perspective. (Score:2, Interesting)
Internet is expensive for everyone. As a thought experiment, divide what you make by $11,880, the poverty line, and then multiply your internet bill is by that much. In other words, if you make the average US income of: 53,657, you end up with a poverty harshness factor of: 4.516582491582492. Now multiply your internet bill by that much, such as the average internet bill of $45. You end up with an poverty adjusted bill of $203.24. That is not insignificant. In reality it's much worse. My phone is my 3rd mo
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Moving itself has a cost.
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That doesn't include the cost of finding employment, the cost of obtaining the privilege of working in a less expensive country, the cost of finding somewhere to live, etc.
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Re: Putting it into Perspective. (Score:2)
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How do I know? I was the son of a poor single mother. Back then the housing situation wasn't quite as bad, they had "low inc
Re:Putting it into Perspective. (Score:4, Insightful)
Why would I need to "poverty adjust" my internet bill?
To see how much it would cost me if I were poor? I've been poor, didn't really tickle my jigglies much. Worked hard, saved harder, educated myself harder still. Now my kid has no idea what growing up poor is like, so I make her work hard and study hard like an asian parent, an A- is unacceptable.
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Some of the poor have disabilities.
Re:Putting it into Perspective. (Score:4, Insightful)
You would want to poverty adjust a bill to consider the impact it would have on someone with lesser means. Below a certain amount of income, it is very difficult to get by, and even harder to rise. I am not saying it doesn't happen, but the American Dream is too often just a dream, and the reality is that we live in a country where poverty is a crime. We live in a country where it is illegal to be homeless, or dollar-less. It is illegal to sleep in your car.
BTW, here in Silicon Valley, often I see a certain middle age man walk by and take food out of the trash to eat it. Even though, I don't have much, I've tried to offer to buy him a bagel or something, but he refuses.
When I was young, we went hungry at times, but I did not starve.
I have a friend who used to eat from McDonalds's dumpster when he was hungry.
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I've been poor too. As in no-eating-for-a-few-days-because-there's-no-money poor, and an automobile was a luxury. I did not like it at all.
Successful now. But I grew up in a small town where everyone had to go to
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I think it's prudent to have a cellphone for emergencies. And much commerce and mapping is done on the internet.
You spend about as much clothes than I do in a year. I get about half of my clothes 2nd hand.
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2 - how can you (or anyone) rent/own for $271/month?
3 - why do you group clothing with misc? Bizarre.
14 - get pay as you go phones from, for example, T-Mobile for as little as $10/year. Also, consider Ting.com
15 - where do you get Internet for $25/month? Is it broadband?
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If you live in the US, poverty is not unavoidable. It is usually a consequence of your own actions. Yes, I know there are exceptions, but I'm pretty sure you can find a way to make more than $11,800 per year.
I know this because I started out poor. I moved to Houston with all of my possessions in an old Pontiac Sunbird. I found roommates to help with rent. I worked hard, and didn't buy things I couldn't afford.
Nowadays, I have more money than I need, but I still live by the same principles of working ha
Re:Putting it into Perspective. (Score:4, Insightful)
"If you live in the US, poverty is not unavoidable. It is usually a consequence of your own actions."
Ah, yes, the American dream. You already said it yourself: "But I'm very blessed.". Not all people are.
Saying that everybody can get out of the trap is non-sense. It may be very invigorating for you to think so, but in the end you're turning it around.
That you made it doesn't mean that everybody else can. Do you really think the *because they want to be*, because they are lazy, because they are quitters?
Just for fun, draw up a list of all the things that could have stopped you achieving what you did. You might find life is even better than you expected. You'll hopefully also see that your life cannot be lived by everybody else.
Re:Putting it into Perspective. (Score:4, Interesting)
Feeling blessed is an attitude, not a circumstance. It is a way of saying that I'm grateful to God for life, and for living in a country that rewards hard work.
If you believe you can't do better, you certainly won't. Many people who are poor are indeed poor because they are lazy or quitters. I recognize that there are people who have true disabilities or major problems that cause them to be poor, through no fault of their own, but this is the exception, not the rule.
I work with young people in an inner city neighborhood of Houston. I'm there to show them that they CAN achieve more, if they just want it and work for it. Some of them are showing signs of promise, but others continue to make the same bad choices that will lead to repeating their parents' lives of poverty. These behaviors are clearly visible, even in school age children.
I had many obstacles on my own way to a "successful" life. My parents lived well below the poverty line. Nobody came to my neighborhood with HUD vouchers or food stamps. Nobody gave me job training classes. I had to go after it, to want it, to work for it.
Everybody has things that "stop" them from achieving. Whining about obstacles doesn't help. Instead, start finding ways to achieve your goals despite those obstacles!
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I really, really like your thought experiment. Sorry if I sound like an ass to others (things usually hit hard when they're true, just saying), but this is just a definite addition to your experiment.
How many people that classify themselves as "poor and never going anywhere", and/or below the federal poverty line, are smokers? What's the monthly cost of cigarettes? How about the cost of pack-a-day or more? I'll tell ya what I had when I was a smoker, living in a crappy apartment, with a near-minimum wag
Those Forbidden To Operate Servers (Score:1)
In general I think the simplest answer is that those who are forbidden by their ISPs/governments from operating servers are the ones being actively disadvantaged. The one in control of the server, is in control of the 'free' speech on the internet.
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In general I think the simplest answer is that those who are forbidden by their ISPs/governments from operating servers are the ones being actively disadvantaged. The one in control of the server, is in control of the 'free' speech on the internet.
...not to mention how fast someone else wants to buy that server operation once it starts to get public notice.
Missing more than Internet.. (Score:1)
Looking at the groups listed in the article, those folks are missing more than just Internet. Maybe we should focus on their basic human needs first.
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You don't understand - if the poor have internet access, then they can just order fresh food, clean water, safe housing, etc. over the internet... /sarcasm
Free Speech Matters (Score:1)
Neither of you understand. If the poor have internet access, and internet access does translate into free speech, then the poor get a voice. In my analysis, that is step number one for them and all of us best addressing the situation.
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Right. "free speech" trumps clean water and air, healthy food, and a place to live.
Seriously? Have you ever been homeless or hungry? Did you find your ability to keep up on facebook more important than either of those?
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Right. "free speech" trumps clean water and air, healthy food, and a place to live.
Seriously? Have you ever been homeless or hungry? Did you find your ability to keep up on facebook more important than either of those?
This is the generation gap (or whatever it should be labeled) I have a raised-eyebrow "condition" with as I age. The Internet was an expensive and near-useless toy when it started out. People didn't use it. They used the phone, they had friends as neighbors, kept in contact with family, etc.
Today I see a family of four (two parents, two kids) standing in line in a restaurant for carry-out. Each of the parents whips out their phone occasionally to look at something on FB/Twitter. It's almost like a knee
Education through Internet (Score:3)
Education is a basic human need, and Internet is (among other things) a tool for fulfilling that need.
political motive vs. profit motive (Score:5, Interesting)
from the ./ summary:
Advocacy of individual economic freedom is often criticized because, among the many possible exercises of that freedom, is radical capitalism: the single-minded pursuit of profits over all other social concerns. Yet, a dedication to monetary profit alone in such conditions as described in the linked study would be preferable to the actual circumstance: a dedication to denying an oppressed group a vital service. Certainly there is much to be made by selling these groups internet service and someone is forgoing profits by not making those sales. More accurately, someone is compelled by government to forgo profits.
If all you want to do is make big profits, by definition you do not want to limit those profits by declining sales to politically unpopular groups.
The economist Milton Friedman said, "Human freedom and economic freedom work together." I disagree because that understates the connectedness of those freedoms; the two are one-in-the-same.
Re:political motive vs. profit motive (Score:4, Interesting)
Rural phone/internet service infrastructure is funded by a tax collected on all phone lines. [fcc.gov]
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Rolling out expensive infrastructure to customers that can not afford to pay for the service that funds the infrastructure is NOT the path to "Big Profits" [youtube.com] - corporations decide where to roll out infrastructure by the profit potential, not political affiliation.
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Probably not, since he died in 2006. [wikipedia.org]
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The problem is that infrastructure is expensive to install, and if they pay back is not more or less immediate companies often aren't interested.
Look at the way ISPs in the US do everything to avoid installing infrastructure where it won't make big profits quickly, even when they agreed to using public money or as part of some franchise agreement.
non union us IT workers! (Score:2)
non union us IT workers!
We need trump to get rid of the H1B's.
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Actually, H1-Bs are not terrible. What we need to get rid of are the people who use loopholes in that system to pay grunt wages to contractors who can then replace US workers.
If H1-B worked the way it was supposed to, it would be used to fill job roles where there was much more demand than supply of workers. In IT, there are definitely those places where there is low supply and high demand.
The problem is, as we have seen, is when places like UC get those workers, they do so after firing the US workers. T
Re: non union us IT workers! (Score:2)
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My understanding is that UC is simply outsourcing. H1Bs are in-house employees brought from another country. Not the same.
voices (Score:1)
On the internet, everyone's voice is equally irrelevant.
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This.
Most people who whine and cry on the Internet seem to be the kind of people who are always there when something is to be criticized or branded "offensive",
but when it comes to doing real world work they suddenly disappear. Especially the social media. The fact that legitimacy is given to the proportion of opinions being unloaded in a thread or in a hashtag without even considering the vastly bigger view numbers whose apathy yet lack of response gives its own sign on the relevance or views of the topic,
[Y]our voice can be amplified online and heard... (Score:2)
Ironically requires the internet to read :-/ (Score:3)
This is akin to preaching to the choir.
I would expect an article about "How the lack of internet is having long term consequences" be available in dead tree form.
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hmm.
"how the internet's ubiquitous presence is having long term consequences" could also be on dead trees and have even more of an impact in its message -- just not reaching the right crowd. OR IS IT
WHITE POWER 14/88 (Score:1)
Oh. Not that kind of politically marginalized group.
Occam's Razor (Score:1)
Seen any on TV, in power, or getting press lately?
They're pretty much the fringe.
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Change that to "White Woman Power 14/88".
In the past few years, it seems white women are trying to take over anything and everything they can.
Feminism? Lead mainly by white women for some reason, and 9 out of 10 whines and complaints for anything come from white women.
LGBT? For some reason white women have taken the role of "leading" and "representing" the LGBT.
Minority groups and ethnic organizations? By some miracle, it's white women being the faces and leading voice acting as their representatives and fa
Who Else Has Time? (Score:1)
White women, sitting along, dissatisfied with their cubicle jobs...
What else could they do but agitate for power through political means?
I doubt that WHITE POWER means WHITE SUPREMACY, but even so, FEMINISM clearly means FEMALES FIRST, even if not FEMALE SUPREMACY.
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i think it's a matter of information gaps, not necessarily that the information isn't there but that it's not in a handy ready to transmit form and it hasn't all been collated into one spot outside of some NSA operation.
basically ISPs serve their customers. their work is downstream. all of their customer data is relevant downstream. well, unless they're selling names and addresses to advertisers.
so sure the ISPs know where all their customers are, but the other ISPs don't. and there's no central repository
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State and federal police globally are thinking of the same NSA level tasking per ip, or interesting person they find.
Police spy on web, phone usage with no warrants (Feb 18 2012)
http://www.smh.com.au/technolo... [smh.com.au]
"Access is authorised by senior police officers or officials rather th
Revolution now (Score:1)
DUH (Score:1)
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By design? (Score:2)
just belonging to a politically marginalized group can translate to poorer access.
That's not terribly suspicious. First and foremost, the internet exists to serve the privileged. From those who had/have the time to make it, to those who use its existence to better their own situation in life. Who's worrying about - let's say - it's impact on the education of the young? Clearly not very many people, since ordered, graduated, high-quality writng and tools to access it with are certainly not a substantial part
Last gen DSLR camera users (Score:2)
Or use some wifi or bluetooth network to try and send the images to a "computer" to then upload.
Buy into some brand and then locked into some branded software that tries to network with the camera and some parts of social media.
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But ~$100m caught fire. Too soon? Oh well.
And most of Slashdot shit on their attempt to expand Internet access to these people.
I don't pull out the "privilege" card often but, man they quack like ducks.