Cyber-ism

On my Oct 7th post, Go Go Jo Jo made a very important point about the lack of access that many ppl have to computers and the internet. I'll admit that as an out-of-touch intellectual living in middle class suburbia, I sometimes forget such considerations (that's Go Go Jo Jo's role in our friendship!) But it's true that there exists/will exist a divide between those who have access and those who don't. As Baudrillard (sorry -- I know, not again) says, "Everywhere socialization is measured by the exposure to media messages. Whoever is underexposed to the media is desocialized or virtually asocial." We live in an age where vast amounts of money are being fed into large digitization projects which are attempting to make books and knowledge available to everyone. The Million Book Collection states that their mission is to create a digital library that is accessible "to anyone in the world 24x7, without regard to nationality or socioeconomic background." Yet there is little effort being made to address the problem of those who can't afford access or who are forbidden access by their dictatorial governments. Our society is likely to become even more digitized, more dependent on cyber interactions. What will happen to those who aren't part of the cyber-sphere? It is likely that yet another social division will be established.