Digital Divide

I feel sort of negative about this week's readings on the digital divide. The first article I read was the Ono one. When I finished it I felt like I had gone through mental gymnastics to understand the statistics of what common sense might has told someone. It simly could be said that based on the statistics from the US Census, it has been shown what one might expect.

If you are an immigrant and speak Spanish, the your availability and use of the internet are less than if you are a native of the US. The findings include:
Gap of education and technology use among immigrants has widened not lessened (with the recent influx of the Spanish population in Knoxville it would stand to reason the gap has widened here)
The findings mirror already established patterns
Not knowing English is an obstacle to using the web
Lack of a social support network is an obstacle
The purpose of the paper was to investigate the effect of the English ability on using the web. And started off with measuring IT usage in many different categories. From the findings the Immigrants were significantly lower. OK .. at this point I have to say it so DUH! and we are surprised how? Less money… less money to buy a computer and obtain access.
Next findings.
· US Natives speak English better
· the longer an immigrant is here the better the English becomes
· computers in libraries and community centers and other locations have not succeeded in reducing the gap.

I guess now that I have taken the time to read 20 some pages of “proof” I’m all the wiser.. but DUH.