Things Fall Apart - Part 2

Looking at how the native Africans and the English dealt with each other, I couldn't help but start to think about the "digital divide".  Isn't this really an example of what we deal with today in terms of how there are those of us who have literacy and those that do not?

Those that possess the information, wield the power and control those who do not.  In "Things Fall Apart", it was the English that possessed the ability to read and write, build weapons, and sail across the world.  This knowledge allowed them to overcome the Africans with ease.  It wasn't called a "digital divide", but it's really the same thing.  In the world of colonialism and globalization, literacy trumps illiteracy every single time.

In today's world, we still deal with the same concepts.  We call it the "digital divide", because we assume that everyone at this point is literate.  Now that we have literacy (yes I know there are many who aren't literate), the playing field still isn't level.  With digital technology, we're seeing a brand new type of literacy...  a digital one.

Those that understand, use, and even control digital technology have infinitely more power over those that don't. To underscore this point, just look at the music industry.  At one time, it was all about records and CD's.  As technology progressed, music was digitized and became a cheap commodity, leading to a world of digital music that is owned and controlled by technology companies (Apple anyone?).  Record companies failed to embrace technology and were eventually "owned" by technologically superior people.

So, in a nutshell, the gap between those who are literate and those who are not has always existed.  We coin the terms in any way we want, but it still comes down to literacy.