Digital divide? So?

In the United States there’s talk of the “digital divide.” Such is the alliterative buzz word for the fact that some people know how to use computers. And, of course, some don’t.

Implicit in all this is that the poor and downtrodden are being locked out of the cyber-world’s gold paved streets. Without–-of course-–a massive government program to get them all computers, they’ll be doomed to drinking malt liquor on street corners and living on free and easy welfare money.

Which, of course, they may prefer to do anyway.

But even if they don’t, the “home economics” of the gig is pretty simple. You can get a computer for a little more than the price of a color television set. Add to that the price of cigarettes, booze, boom boxes, CD’s, car stereos, and the rest of the unnecessary junk out there, it’s hard to imagine anyone not being able to afford a computer. It’s merely a question of priorities.

Ah yes, priorities. That little issue often gets swept under the rug.

All you need to become a computer whiz is (1) a computer, and (2) a book. That’s it. I’ve taught myself a number of programming languages. It doesn’t take a formal curriculum. If you can read, if you can comprehend basic math, you can teach yourself how to program, or write web pages, or to do just about anything with computers.

And…well, that’s it. A few hundred for a computer, well under a hundred for books, and you’re on the way.

And yet…and yet…that’s not easy enough, is it? The lazy, the unmotivated, and the illiterate will still be on the wrong side of the digital divide. Well, so what? That’s their fault. It’s not my fault.

A computer is the ultimate equalizer. It doesn’t know where you come from, what nationality you are, how old you are, how much money you’ve got in the bank. You want equal opportunity? That’s it, baby. As equal as it gets.

As for Saipan, while we eye the opportunities in the digital realm, the same lesson applies. Are we hopelessly handicapped because every single classroom doesn’t have a hundred whiz-bang supercomputers? No. Rest assured, there are kids out there right now ensconced in their bedrooms, quietly working their ways through their C++ books, their Java manuals, their HTML tomes. When you consider the fact that public school can’t even teach people how to read and write, is it reasonable to task it with turning people into computer experts? Gimme a break.

Sez me, then: Ignore the talk of digital divides. Computers are cheap, getting cheaper, and the realm can be self-taught. The fact is, though, here or anywhere else, most people would rather watch Oprah on the color TV than do the hard and lonely work it takes to enter the cyber-world. It’s not a digital divide. It’s a decision divide.

Stephens is an economist with Stephens Corporation, a professional organization in the NMI. His column appears three times a week: Wednesday, Thursday and Friday. Mr. Stephens can be contacted via the following e-mail address: ed4Saipan@yahoo.com.