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'Bandwidth Divide' Could Bar Some From Free Online Courses

Posted by Unknown on from the no-learning-for-you dept.

An anonymous reader writes "The Bandwidth Divide is a form of what economists call the Red Queen effect referring to a scene in Lewis Carroll's Through the Looking-Glass when Alice races the Red Queen. As the Red Queen tells Alice: 'It takes all the running you can do, to keep in the same place. If you want to get somewhere else, you must run at least twice as fast as that!' Keeping up with digital technology is like that race — it takes a continual investment of money and time just to keep up with the latest, and an exceptional amount of work to get ahead of the pack. 'The question is, What is the new basic?' said one researcher. 'There will always be inequality. But 100 years after the introduction of the car, not everybody has a Ferrari, but everyone has access to some form of motorized transportation through buses.' Well, not everyone, but even fewer people have the online equivalent. Colleges considering MOOCs should remember that."

3 of 222 comments (clear)

  1. Re:Internet = Utility by clarkkent09 · · Score: 1, Troll

    Yea cause heavily regulated utilities are such a great example of efficient operation as well as champions of innovation.

    --
    Negative moral value of force outweighs the positive value of good intentions.
  2. what the fuck kind of logic is that? by larry+bagina · · Score: 0, Troll

    Not everyone has access to MIT's online classes. Not everyone has access to MIT's in-person classes either.

    --
    Do you even lift?

    These aren't the 'roids you're looking for.

  3. Guess you missed Obama phones, with 41% fraud by raymorris · · Score: 0, Troll

    We don't have a discussion about universal cell phone access or universal groceries access either.

    I guesd you're not familiar with Obama Phones. 4G is now an entitlement. That's where the $12.50 / month "universal access fee" you pays goes. When the FCC looked into it, at least 41% of recipients aren't actually eligible - they make more than enough to buy their own phones, but they had you buy them one instead.

    As far as universal groceries, 11% of Americans recieve food stamps, and grocery-related entitlements cost about 9% of the total GDP. For readers not familiar with economics jargon, for every $100 you earn, roughly $20 of that goes to pay for someone else's bills through various taxpayer funded programs.