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mhhf1ve
5/9/2016 3:07:36 PM
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What is the myth?
I thought the "digital divide" was about income inequality..? Where poor neighborhoods have lower access to the internet than wealthier neighborhoods... But maybe that's not the digital divide that Switzerland is dealing with? Or maybe there are more definitions of the "digital divide" around the world... and different possible myths about the divides.
faryl
5/9/2016 4:52:30 PM
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Re: What is the myth?
I was wondering the same thing.
I guess either there was an existing myth within Switzerland that they have some sort of digital divide, and they just debunked it; or this study was addressing the concept of the digital divide that exists in many (most?) nations and extrapolated data specific to their country to debunk it?
It seems that the digital divide in the US is certainly not a myth.
vnewman
5/9/2016 6:19:31 PM
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Re: What is the myth?
I think - and I could be wrong as I've been wrong before - that the divide and "income inequality" can be translated into the same terms as you imagine: wealtheir (urban) vs poorer (rural).
mhhf1ve
5/9/2016 6:46:32 PM
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Re: What is the myth?
> "the divide and "income inequality" can be translated into the same terms as you imagine: wealtheir (urban) vs poorer (rural)."
Yes, I think the Swiss "digital divide" must be a bit different that the US version. The US version often means "no access at all" (or very very limited internet access) in the rural or poor areas. I think the Swiss are comparing rural with urban areas -- and there may not be as much of a wealth/poverty gap as the US has.
The US version of the digital divide isn't necessarily about geographic regions, but I guess that's not the case in other countries....
mhhf1ve
5/9/2016 3:11:08 PM
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The Swiss...
The Swiss population, according to this survey, seems to be more digitally homogeneous than originally thought. I suppose that's a good thing, but not entirely unsurprising, either. As more and more generations get connected to the internet, it would stand to reason that the population of people doing stuff "online" would grow and ultimately take over such that very few people (who have internet access) would choose to stay off the internet for routine activities that can be done, sometimes more efficiently, online.
srufolo1
5/10/2016 11:55:11 AM
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Re: The Swiss...
You don't see too many studies concerning the Swiss, so I thought this was interesting. I would have to say that using email would beat waiting for the tram to come up the mountainside to deliver a letter. I guess that's why Switzerland is considering mail drones to deliver mail. Also, Switzerland's population at a little over 8 million people is just slightly fewer people than in New York City alone. When I visited the country in the early 80s, I did not see a great disparity of rich and poor that we see in the U.S. I thought the interesting finding was that the Swiss rather be without a car than the Internet. Perhaps they will have their cake and eat it, too, when "smart cars" catch on.
faryl
5/28/2016 4:47:59 PM
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Re: The Swiss...
I think the car preference also is influenced by the quality of public transportation or the ease of walking/biking in one's town.
Living close to downtown San Diego, I gave up my car years ago to save on money, but I can't imagine giving up internet access!
clrmoney
5/9/2016 3:21:47 PM
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digital myth
I don't understand saying that digital is a myth when almost everthing we do online virtual so anybody can make up a study and people believe it.
faryl
5/9/2016 4:53:54 PM
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mhhf1ve
5/9/2016 6:52:33 PM
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Re: digital myth
Misinterpreted scientific studies are pretty much everywhere.. but I think this study is not really meant to be "scientific" as much as just a survey/poll with statistically sigificant conclusions. It's not quite the same level of rigor to conduct a poll of a well-defined population and make sure the conclusions are self-consistent as it is to perform a test of a hypothesis.... I suppose the hypothesis here would be the "myth" -- but truly scientific, social-economic surveys should probably include more randomized selection.
Ariella
5/9/2016 9:23:52 PM
User Rank Author
Re: digital myth
@mhhf1ve I agree. Actually, as polls go, this one was relatively large, topping 14K. I've seen many draw conclusions on the basis of just a couple of hundred responses, and sometimes even on the basis of under a hundred.
Re: digital myth
Well, let's remember that this is Switzerland, not the USA or the world as a whole. It qualifies as a true socioeconomic study no less than a study of US residents and no other residents in any other country.
Switzerland has the world's highest standard of living and is an isolationist nation that lacks the racial diversity of the Americas or even some of its European neighbors.
(I suspect you would find similar results if you polled all of the residents of, say, the United Arab Emirates -- which is one of the wealthiest nations in the Middle East and has socialized their oil fields, such that pretty much 100% of all native UAE residents are fabulously wealthy.)
I am perfectly willing to believe the results of this study as applied to the particular sample while also accepting that the results may be markedly different in a US or a UK.
faryl
5/28/2016 4:43:05 PM
User Rank Platinum
Re: digital myth
Absolutely true! I wasn't intending to imply that this particular survey was a sham... I'd just watched the clip the night before and was reminded of it by your comment :-)
JohnBarnes
5/10/2016 7:33:19 AM
User Rank Platinum
Using an even naughtier word than John Oliver did ...
"Theory."
Could it reasonably be expected that there would be multiple digital divides in any country that has any digital presence at all?
Well, we happen to know that pretty much every demographic group -- ethnic, religious, gender, economic, etc etc etc -- has different personal interests, different economic self-interest, different disposable income, different priorities, even more etcs -- from the others. Since all of those affect adoption of new tech, guess what?
Some populations get digital somethings earlier and faster than others. Rich faster than poor and urban faster than rural are unsurprising due to obvious constraints, but nearly every nation will have large "digital divides", some widening and some narrowing, until the day when the world is one big network.
The empirical result is only a surprise if you've never, ever even remotely thought about what the outcome is almost certain to be -- i.e. applied a little theory before you start.
afwriter
5/10/2016 2:21:36 PM
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Simmer
People are getting a little bit heated over a simple study here. Isn't the main point of this whole thing that people in the country need and use the internet just as much as us high class city folk? It is no surprise in any civilized country that this is the case considering the internet has stopped being a comodity and started being a neccesity in many instances.
mhhf1ve
5/10/2016 3:38:45 PM
User Rank Platinum
Re: Simmer
"Isn't the main point of this whole thing that people in the country need and use the internet just as much as us high class city folk?"
There needs to be a study to show that the internet is an important service for every socio-economic group? Hmm. I suppose it's nice to prove the obvious... :P
I kid.. This study is significant for showing that various groups *do* use the internet, even when they're maybe not expected to due to geographic location or economic status. And the importance of the internet over a car is an interesting result....
dlr5288
5/22/2016 6:07:16 PM
User Rank Platinum
Re: Simmer
Good points!
Yeah it's weird to me when people don't realize that a lot of other social groups need and use the Internet just like we do. I'm glad that this shows just how many different classes of people rely on the Internet.
faryl
5/28/2016 4:44:57 PM
User Rank Platinum
Re: Simmer
"us high class city folk" - I appreciate you giving us all the benefit of the doubt as being "high class"!
clrmoney
5/17/2016 11:07:28 AM
User Rank Platinum
divide
Swisscom is a digital company that is successful so where does this digital divide come from because we need digital things in the world etc.
freehe
5/22/2016 8:18:08 PM
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