Australia’s digital divide: Some thoughts on the media

After seeing this tweet on Twitter, I started to think about the different levels of access Australian’s have in regards to published/broadcasted material:


Of course, most Internet users have access to illegal streaming and download sites, but Australians don’t have a third party website that allows to stream shows for free. Itunes Australia provides some free content, including video podcasts, and Youtube can be used for some programs, but most Australian programs are very hard to access legally online.



The ABC allows streaming of previous episodes, as do some of the commercial stations like Channel 9 and Channel 10, but not without a myriad of advertisements in place. Networks will be forced to create legal avenues for users to view programs, otherwise users will continue to access illegal sites.

It is obvious that Australia is behind the US in terms of access, both the access to the Internet and sites like Hulu, but nowhere near developing countries that are not even yet online. The NBN seems like a nice idea in theory, but it is evident the Federal Government have not invested enough research or thought into developing a well structured program for all Australians. Check out what the Liberals have to say.

I’ve come across some well written posts on these topics which both highlight the concern for the adoption of NBN and the ramifications for consumers.

Where's my laptop?

As the digital divide is concerned with levels of access, the Rudd government made it an election promise to increase this ‘access’ to school students by promising laptops for each pupil.

However, a non for profit organisation, One Laptop per Child has already stepped in to provide computers for local communities in the Northern Territory.

I have doubts to whether firstly this can be economically feasible for the government and second of all, whether there are enough teachers to develop the skills of students using these tools. The digital divide is not merely restricted to physical access to a computer, but rather the skills needed to use the computer to serve the students educational requirements.

There is doubts published recently regarding laptops, but should the government be focusing upon laptops for every student when farmers in rural Australia are still using dial up Internet? It is a balance between the façade of meeting election promises and the reality of the needs faced by some of Australians rural communities.

So school are going to have to wait for their laptops, as the audit continues..