#Microblog Monday 285: The Information Line
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So yesterday’s quote from Followers was funny, but today’s is sobering. On page 166, a person in 2051 is speaking with a robot name Mateo at an archive who offers her earphones so she can listen to the audio portion of a video. Most people in 2051 have devices embedded on their bodies by the time they’re seven, so they would have no trouble hearing the audio sans earphones. This person, on the other hand, does not have a device and asks about the earphones.
Mateo nodded. “The Archive currently uses them for our guests younger than seven, and our guests whose income indicates that they live below the information line,” it said. “In other words, our guests who do not have devices.”
Which, of course, is a scenario that plays out in our world daily. In many cases, despite the best efforts of schools and libraries, the poverty line IS the information line. How can you keep up with the flow of information if you can’t afford to access it? And accessing information, in the here and now, involves a computer or digital device. It’s sobering how many assumptions are made about access. That everyone will be reachable or be able to access information online, whether they’re at work/school or home.
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8 comments
This is interesting to me because my daughters go to a school which is diverse socioeconomically. I regularly notice this divide in information between those of us who have access to All The Information and regularly access it – like how dangerous certain apps are for kids – and those who do not, or who choose not to access that info. It has been eye opening.
In Lois McMaster Bujold’s Vokosigan series, Cordelia, who is from an extremely rich and developed colony moves to Barrayar, which has some rough areas.
“Poor?” asked Cordelia, bewildered. No electricity? How can it be on the comm network?”
“It’s not, of course,” answered Vorkosigan….”Have you no poverty on Beta Colony?”
“Poverty? Well, some people have more money than others, of course, but…no comconsoles?” …
“Is not owning a comconsole the lowest standard living you can imagine?” he asked in wonder.
“It’s the first article in the constitution. ‘Access to information shall not be abridged.'”
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They have to educate her on what actual poverty is. It’s very eye opening. (from Barrayar, part of the Cordelia’s Honor duology which is part of the Vorkosigan saga)
Yes. I’m of the firm belief that all schooling should take place at school, at least in elementary school. I’m privileged to have a high level of education and a job that allows me to spend 20-30 min a night helping my child with homework. Our school district is doing great things to bridge the socioeconomic gap but the homework thing troubles me. There are parents for whom English is a second language, work late hours, etc. I think the school day should be longer so all kids benefit equally—more instruction at school, less or no homework. Yes taxes should increase to pay for this. Or at least eliminate the Prop 13 property tax windfall for commercial properties in California…
Our school uses Eureka math, which is fine, *I* totally understand it and have no problem with it (actually I’m one of those people who thinks the old traditional math system is fine, why make it complicated, but whatever), but starting in first grade the homework included long word problems, which number one kids can’t do alone bc most aren’t reading at a high enough level, and two, a lot of parents have trouble with. So these parents are told to go watch YouTube videos or read websites about eureka math. so there’s an assumption that parents have devices and time plus the desire to spend time on this. Which if not, results in a disadvantage to some kids.
Oooh, now I have a new book to look into. My daughter is still too young for school, but this gives me a lot to think about.
I don’t have children in school, but I am seeing this play out at the opposite end of the spectrum, with older people who do not have computers or smartphones, or who aren’t comfortable going online to do things. My parents have a computer — they even have iPhones now, lol — but they are not comfortable with a lot of things that they are being asked to do via computer these days. For example — the bank they dealt with closed the doors of its local branch (which my father actually used to manage!) 2-3 years ago. They will check their balances online, but prefer to do their actual banking in person — which now means driving 45 minutes into the city. My dad is now 80, but he’s increasingly less comfortable driving in city traffic, so I’m not sure how much longer they’ll be able to do that. There’s been no bus service into the city for years. They could get cash from one of the other banks’ machines in town — but of course they will pay extra fees to do that. My sister has all their passwords, etc., and helps them out with banking as best she can, but not everyone has that advantage.
My sister got her very first cellphone last year (age 57), specifically because we were going to see Elton John together, and there were NO paper tickets issued… she had to go online & download the Ticketmaster app and show them our tickets on her phone to get into the concert! We were both disappointed because we’ve always saved the ticket stubs from all the concerts we’ve been to. 😉 She took a screenshot from the app & sent it to me, and that’s my souvenir ticket, lol.
” … below the information line … ” That’s such an accurate phrase. I guess it has always been there, in terms of the poverty lines where kids can’t go to school or girls were restricted from getting an education or poverty or disfunctional families disrupting education, leading to illiteracy.
But unfortunately, these days, it doesn’t just refer to poverty, or to – as Loribeth aptly pointed out – the elderly, but to those who don’t have the ability to determine what is information, and what is disinformation (the antivacc campaign, or the Russian influence in the US elections springs to mind). I wonder if it will still be the case in 2051? I hate to even think about it.
Oh gosh, yes. My school uses a lot of Google Classroom and Google Docs and stuff like that, and our Parent Portal is online, and it is AMAZING how often people assume that everyone has internet access at home, when a rather large number don’t have access to either the internet or devices that would be usable for assignments. I feel like these are great tools but if I don’t allow time to use them in school or have alternative ways to complete assignments or communicate grades to parents, then I am punishing kids for things beyond their control. I also think about rural areas that don’t have any internet or cellular areas, and how you could be so isolated from so much without having access to these pipelines of information. Because many things assume that you have access to internet. And there’s a lot of amenities that are only available through phones, like Loribeth said. It’s amazing how easily someone could cut people out of important information by cutting their access to these services. Scary.
Jess, just five years ago, my parents & sister went to a big centennial celebration/town reunion in one of the small towns we grew up in. Rural and somewhat isolated, then and now, and they still did not have cellular service!! My sister said it was hilarious watching people walking around and holding up their phones trying to get a signal that just wasn’t there, lol.