COMPUTERS IN YOUR LIFE

Are computers tools, toys, or both?

Computers have become increasingly indispensable for students. Where do you use computers? Do you use them for work? For play? As you read this chapter of The Media in Your Life, think about the computer uses you know about.

Does your everyday computer use give you broad access to new media services, direct interactivity with the media, or interpersonal communication through the computer ? How closely do you feel linked to a "networked society"? Does your computer use make you think about media communications we've not yet dreamed of--or at least have not yet perfected the technology for?

Computers and the online world have great potential, but most analysts don't yet know how the technology will be used in the mass media mix. Take this chance to make a record of your computer use for the tasks below, and compare it with computer use by other site visitors.

Who Has Access to Technology and Information?
Research tells us that individuals with higher levels of education and technology generally have more exposure to various channels of mass communication from which they gain ideas and information. People already using computers and online databases at work or tinkering with new entertainment technologies at home are the first to use advanced software and networks. These people already understand the logic of using communication tools. They easily adopt sophisticated information technologies because they build on their present knowledge. These are the "information rich," those who have access to the information.

People with lower levels of education may not be exposed to as many kinds of mass communication systems, and may become relatively "information poor." As mass media technology becomes more sophisticated, higher knowledge individuals gain information even faster, thus widening what is termed "the knowledge gap." (For more information, see page 321 of The Media in Your Life.) Return to introduction.

A Networked Society
Since 1993 the U.S. government has urged connecting computers in people's homes and places of business and promoting nearly universal access to computer systems. This would become the foundation of an information superhighway enabling U.S. economy to surge ahead, while transforming people's lives by giving all Americans a greater measure of equal opportunity. The dream of an information superhighway is spawning a modern day Gold Rush, as telephone companies, cable TV operators, publishers, movie studios, computer makers and cellular phone operators hurry to stake a claim on an enormous consumer market that could reach hundreds of billions of dollars.

Reflecting on the government's philosophy, reporter Scott Shepard wrote that "The good news is everyone in Congress supports the information superhighway . . . the bad news is that nobody in Congress understands what the information superhighway is." (For more information, see page 337 of The Media in Your Life.)


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