Bridging the "digital divide"

[Warped]

Every once in a while we hear talk of the "digital divide" in the news media. Do any of you know of a charitable organization out there which tries to "bridge" this divide by providing free or very low-cost computers to low income families, and teching them basic computer skills?

If you think about it, this could be easily done, and would allow others to take part in the information explosion that is the internet.

How many companies are there out there that have Pentium class or better computers which are slated to be recycled or trashed. There is no such organization here, locally, and I am considering founding one. I would be interested to know if any such organizations exist, so that I might have a model of how this has been successfully executed.

Thanks a lot,
Zach

[psyklone]

well i don't know if i've heard of anything like that. it's a **** skippy idea though. if you're planning on making this a nonprofit organization i can set you up with some information because i do a ton of volunteer work at a nonprofit management center. let me know if there's anything i can do to help ya!

best of luck

[Warped]

Thanks, please send me all the information you can on founding a non-profit, I need all the help I can get...

[psyklone]

will do, i'll be in there tomorrow so i'll get that info for ya and get back to you on that.

cheers,

psyklone

[DarkKobold]

Funny you should mention this. I am currently going through the application process to work with a company that is using a State grant to bridge the gap. They are using new deal software on old 386/486s. The site for new deal is www.newdealinc.com (http://www.newdealinc.com) The name of the company is Gateway, mainly they deal with Handicapped, mentally and Physically. Anyway, I am looking forward to working for them, hopefully. Wish me luck!

[Warped]

Good Luck. That sounds somewhat similar to what I'm going to attempt to start here, and thanks for the site.

BTW, does deal software run well on 386/486 machines? is it very functional? easy to use?

[U-96]

IMO the "Digital Divide" is a media and corporate fabrication.
There will be no social exclusion because of it - those people are ALREADY excluded by society.
Lack of PC/internet access did not create the problem, nor aggravate it.

Please don't confuse the "digital divide" with provision of access for education, or to make life for the disabled or elderly easier. I'm all for that, and public money should be contributed.

It is a political and marketing trick. They want everyone to have online shopping, to watch and regulate commerce and communications like they have never had the opportunity before.

A little like Dark City crossed with the Truman Show.

There is a series of very interesting articles/discussions here (http://www.nikkei.co.jp/summit/english/online/session204.html) which puts points forward a little more lucidly that I could.

Fight the Power http://sysopt.earthweb.com/forum/wink.gif

U-96

[Warped]

provision of access for education, or to make life for the disabled or elderly easier.

Thanks a lot, you cleared something up for me. I was not sure what exactly to describe the project as at first, the "digital divide" just rang a few bells.

In the above quote I think you got at the aim of my project. You said what I was trying to get at better than I did myself http://sysopt.earthweb.com/forum/smile.gif.

Thanks,
Zach

[DarkKobold]

Digital Divide or not, I think it is a great idea. Haven't gotten a chance to test new deal, I think I'll try the demo this weekend. I'm most worried about it's abillity to detect hardware, and it's support of various old school hardware...

[U-96]

Please don't misunderstand me - I applaud the efforts of the many members on this board who work towards the end that Warped highlighted. Welsh Wizard (among others) has advocated similar community schemes before, and I am 100% behind them!

It is the digital divide as a sociological phenomenon that I maintain is hogwash http://sysopt.earthweb.com/forum/smile.gif

U-96

[DarkKobold]

I Got the JOB!!!