Digital exclusion

Digital exclusion might be an alien concept to some. To me it means a new form of disadvantage and poverty.

Simply, people who don't use computers because they can't afford them or they don't know how to use them are worse off. Our world modern, for my generation at least, is all about computing and digital. I first experienced the internet over 18 years ago. Today it's become an essential part of my life.

The price of technology has dropped significantly. Netbooks offer enough to allow most users to improve their quality of life. They can use the WWW to find information, shop for cheaper deals, communicate for free with friends, find services, play games. read books and news stories, even publish their own works and all using a relatively cheap device.

The problem is the devices still aren't cheap enough. There are many poor people who may not be able to stretch to the captial outlay and running costs of even some of the cheapest options. The smartphone is becoming an viable option with the hope that a $100 Android smartphone will be released this year. As the sole way a person might access the internet the smartphone is limited because of the screen size and the processor on cheap smartphones but it allows access to computing with a lower capital outlay.

I already use the equivalent of a $100 Android smartphone. I use a T-Mobile G1 rooted with the latest Cyanogen Mod Android OS. It cost me £62 on Ebay and was a good bargain even by Ebay's standards. I get 3G internet access for £20 for 6 months on T-Mobile's pay-as-you-go tariff.

It allows me to do so much. Sadly it's a little slow for every day use but I'm used to fast computing. It serves the purpose of allowing me to read web pages and news stories, write and tag. I can use most webpages apart from those which use Flash. There are some excellent and very simple applications, for example the Pocket Auctions for Ebay, which are better than the website for most users. It has the significant advantage of a hardware keyboard but many people are satisfied with their virtual keyboards.

As you may gather I know how to live cheap. I also know about how to use technology. I've been using computers since I was a kid. I was a total computer geek. I wrote my first game (adapted from code in a programming magazine) at the age of 9 and wrote software for a European Space Agency project when I was 18. Other people don't have that sort of expertise.

This is another aspect of digital exclusion. Technology is something people can have a barrier towards because they have to learn. Their learning capacity is usually reserved for other things which they perceive have value to them whereas computing isn't. They have to learn and computers don't make a lot of sense.

The older generation, people who don't work in offices, people who work menial jobs with low pay, immigrants and asylum seekers, the mentally ill and the physically disabled, the homeless, the jobless....there are other groups too....could all be excluded from the advantage which digital provides to those who know how to use it.

This creates a disadvantage which doesn't need to exist. It's a disadvantage created by progress in technology but progress not designed for the human being. I think the smartphone will be the enabling tool to overcome the problem of digital exclusion not for the price, size, weight or power consumption benefits. I think the biggest hurdle for many people is the interface (as well as seeing the utility but that's something I'm explore in a bit).

A thought which resonated with me was spoken by a producer at the BBC. "I don't want to learn." It sounds like a horrible thing to hear as someone who likes to learn but I didn't take it that way. What she meant was that she can't be arsed with all the lack of usability which is common in new applications. She had an iPhone. They're amazing because they're so easy to use. There's very little learning involved and the benefits can be appreciated easier without the barrier of poor interfaces. It is the beauty of Google too. Their search engine homepage is exquisite because it is very easy to use and looks right.

People have better things to do than learn how to use the latest computer platform. Thankfully Apple are bringing out fantastic products with a high degree of focus on the ease of use. It's why so many people buy Apple products though they cost more. Windows by comparison isn't as easy to start using straight away until the more recent revisions of their operating system.

The smartphone takes it one step further. It is a consumer device now and applications are written for the consumer. The Pocket Auction for Ebay application is one of the finest examples of interface elegance. They've dropped a lot of the clutter of the main Ebay site and reduced the available features to those which are essential. Power users might prefer Ebay's own application or the full site experience but many people will find Ebay easier to learn to use through Pocket Auction for Ebay.

The impact

I've spoken at length now about barriers and this idea of digital exclusion. It's the disadvantage of barriers of cost and other factors such as fear of learning or poor interface design slowing the time to get to the benefits or not even seeing the benefits.

The impact covers many domains. I could only cover a few I can think of now. The impact may indirectly contribute to other factors in disability too.

Information
This is the force-multiplier (to take a term from the military vernacular for a technology or weapon of war which significantly increases the attack power of an army) in many areas of modern life. Knowledge and the dissemination of standardised knowledge was one of the core aspects where technology empowered the last major revolution in human civilisation, the Industrial Age. The printing press allowed standardised teaching. It was invented for religion but is used every day for teaching in schools, universities and other education establishments.

This is one of the reasons behind the One Laptop Per Child Project. In this blog post I'm talking about the Western world but the OLPC project sought to end the far greater digital exclusion in the developing world. The value of free access to information - mostly free written content available on just about anything available in seconds through a simple search of the web or Wikipedia - has benefits no matter how wealthy a society or how 'developed' the nation.

Being able to learn and have questions answered using the internet is empowering experience which some people can't get access to at all. It reduces what they can get out of this life compared to people who have the opportunity to access computing at home.

Shopping
Money is a major factor in exclusion of call kinds. People with disabilites, the disadvantages and otherwise financially poor have less choice, less freedom, die earlier, are more ill and generally have worse lifes than those who are moderately wealthy.

There are a number of factors involved in this and a significant body of research evidence behind the conclusions. One of them is the ability to buy cheap goods online. A person without internet access can't use Ebay. They'd have to use an internet cafe or a library. Access is not always suitable or secure in those places. They may not have the time to full research a purchase like a person with internet access at home could. They're also not able to keep regularly accessing Ebay without the costs rising because of more frequent use of public computing facilities. The key barrier is they won't be able to spend the time to learn how to use Ebay without paying for internet access at a public computing facility. These costs for people who are on state benefits, either the jobless or the disabled, are significant.

Ebay is just one place where people can buy cheaper goods online. There are many other goods and services which can be sourced cheaper using an internet search. There are websites dedicated to bargain hunting, for example Martin's Money tips or Hotdeals UK, and for people who get £50 or £60 a week those can make their money go much further.

There are other advantages. People with disabilities may not have high mobility. People who are poor or don't drive can't carry a lot so they can't take advantage of bulk buying heavy or large items; a person with a cat who doesn't have a car can't buy a few months of cat food when it's on promotion because they can't carry it. Online shopping and cheap or free delivery charges mean poor people can take advantage of these promotions to allow their money to go further.

Being able to consume more with the same amount of money reduces the impact of poverty. I've learned to live with less disposable income than people might believe. I manage to buy nice clothes because I get them second hand. I do the same for the electronic devices I buy. I bargain hunt. I scrimp on things which aren't of interest to me and save for the things I enjoy. Any large expenses are well researched and decisions made with a high onus on value versus performance (though I still buy good stuff sometimes).

It is all possible thanks to digital inclusion.


Other ways
I'm sure we can all think of other ways having regular access to a computer and the internet make our lives better and give us an advantage over someone who doesn't. Communication and keeping in touch is an obvious one. Isolation is often associated with negative impacts for some people. The exclusion which comes from experiencing symptoms of mental illness can be reduced through online communities and networks. Find your way around is easier so people can feel more comfortable to travel. News and blogs can be read. Books can be downloaded. Photos, music and movies too.

Fuck it. You can finish this one of yourself. There's a million and one ways in which digital exclusion makes life worse for those who are already disadvantaged by other factors.

These aspects of disadvantage can be fixed.

One step forward is cheap devices with suitable specification for basic needs and cheap internet access.

Another is better interfaces. And perhaps training.

Another is cheap or free public internet facilities.

There's an aspect which is about helping those excluded overcome the barriers and join us in the digital revolution. That's the sort of overall goal.