Technology Inequality http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/392171.stm

This article is particularly interesting because it brings in a global aspect. The internet allows the wealthy countries to educate themselves and provides them with seemingly infinite resources. Poor countries lack this advantage and must watch as the rich get richer thanks to their ability to network and self educate. The large gaps in education cause large gaps in wealth and quality of life. On a local level it is easy to see how the educated succeed and can afford luxuries unavailable to the less educated who have lower paying jobs, but this is also true on an international level. In fact, disparities among a community are small relative to the global disparities. That is countries that have collectively better education also have an overall better quality of life, so the inequality in Madison is small compared to the inequality between people from the United States and people from Senegal. The article states that a worker from Bangladesh would have to save his salary for eight years to be able to afford a computer, while an American would only have to save one month’s salary. This wealth gap creates a barrier to accessing the internet, which is now a necessity to staying competitive in the global market. The article also states that “The assets of the 200 richest people exceed the combined income of 41% of the world's total population.” And how did former richest man Bill Gates make his fortune? Computers. He was able to recognize the potential of software. There are billions to be made for those who can think of a creative new website (like Google for example), but these billion dollar ideas are hard to come by. And it is impossible for people in poor countries to make such discoveries when they have never used a computer. The article ends with “In its conclusion, the UNDP calls for more technological aid to be delivered to poor countries, warning that they risk being left out in the rush to monopolize the world's knowledge.” “Technological aid” may seem a bit ridiculous at first. Do we really need to be dropping off laptops to children in Africa when they don’t have food or clean water? But technological aid is exactly what libraries are providing in the rich countries. The United States uses libraries to keep everyone on the same level as much as possible because it believes the elite should not hold all the knowledge and therefore all the power. Since poor countries cannot afford the luxury of public libraries, it is equally as important for the rich countries to ensure that poor countries can keep up and succeed.