Disconnected : haves and have-nots in the information age

Author(s)

Bibliographic Information

Disconnected : haves and have-nots in the information age

William Wresch

Rutgers University Press, c1996

  • : pbk

Available at  / 21 libraries

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Note

Bibliography: p. 249-257

Includes index

Description and Table of Contents

Volume

ISBN 9780813523699

Description

Contrasting the lives of two men, this work examines those that have access to information and those that do not. It surveys the range of information and analyzes the barriers that keep people information poor: geography, tyranny, illiteracy, and psychological blinders.
Volume

: pbk ISBN 9780813523705

Description

In the Information Age, information is power. Who produces all that information, how does it move around, who uses it, to what ends, and under what constraints? Who gets that power? And what happens to the people who have no access to it? Disconnected begins with a striking vignette of two men: One is the thriving manager of a company selling personal computers and computer services. The other is just one among thousands of starving laborers. He has no way to find the information that might help him find a job, he cannot afford newspapers, rarely sees television, cannot understand the dialect of local radio broadcasts, will probably never touch a computer. These two men happen to live in Windhoek, Namibia, but this is not a story about Africa--it is a story that could be repeated almost anywhere in the world, even next door. With vivid anecdotes and data, William Wresch contrasts the opportunities of the information-rich with the limited prospects of the information-poor. Surveying the range of information--personal, public, organizational, commercial --that has become the currency of exchange in today's world, he shows how each represents a form of power. He analyzes the barriers that keep people information-poor: geography, tyranny, illiteracy, psychological blinders, "noise," crime. Technology alone, he demonstrates, is not the answer. Even the technology-rich do not always get access to important information--or recognize its value. Wresch spells out the grim consequences of information inequity for individuals and society. Yet he ends with reasons for optimism and stories of people who are working to pull down the impediments to the flow of information.

Table of Contents

Preface Information Rich, Information Poor Part I. Problems at the Source Chapter 1. World Media Chapter 2. Personal Information Chapter 3. Organizational Information Chapter 4. Professional Information Chapter 5. Commercial Information Part II. Transmission Problems Chapter 6. Information Exiles Chapter 7. Tyranny Chapter 8. Information Criminals Part III. Reception Problems Chapter 9. World Education Chapter 10. Psychology Chapter 11. Noise Part IV. Solutions Chapter 12. Reasons for Hope References Index

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