Comments on: On the 20th anniversary of the Web, part 1 http://blogs.gartner.com/gene_phifer/2009/03/06/on-the-20th-anniversary-of-the-web-part-1/ A member of the Gartner Blog Network Fri, 16 Apr 2010 19:42:12 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.0.4 By: Ant http://blogs.gartner.com/gene_phifer/2009/03/06/on-the-20th-anniversary-of-the-web-part-1/comment-page-1/#comment-60 Ant Fri, 13 Mar 2009 10:09:57 +0000 http://blogs.gartner.com/gene_phifer/?p=29#comment-60 “To sum it up, the Web has completely democratized access to information, products, services, applications, and other human beings.” Completely? I think we too often overstate the reach of the Web. In the UK, in 2008, less that two-thirds of households had internet access (http://www.statistics.gov.uk/CCI/nugget.asp?ID=8) Is democracy complete when it excludes one third of the population? More interesting are the demographic differences. From the same source, “Adults under 70 years of age who had a degree or equivalent qualification were most likely to have access to the Internet in their home, at 93 per cent. Those individuals who had no formal qualifications, were least likely to have an Internet connection in their home at 56 per cent.” It would be interesting to look at this globally. See, for example, http://www.internetworldstats.com/stats.htm. Clearly, parts of the world that could benefit hugely from democratized access to information, products, services, applications, and other human beings are very far from “completely”. Ant PS. See also Andrea’s blog: http://blogs.gartner.com/andrea_dimaio/2009/03/10/uk-public-service-reform-agenda-tradition-or-innovation/. How does that third get it’s say? “To sum it up, the Web has completely democratized access to information, products, services, applications, and other human beings.”

Completely?

I think we too often overstate the reach of the Web.

In the UK, in 2008, less that two-thirds of households had internet access (http://www.statistics.gov.uk/CCI/nugget.asp?ID=8) Is democracy complete when it excludes one third of the population?

More interesting are the demographic differences. From the same source, “Adults under 70 years of age who had a degree or equivalent qualification were most likely to have access to the Internet in their home, at 93 per cent. Those individuals who had no formal qualifications, were least likely to have an Internet connection in their home at 56 per cent.”

It would be interesting to look at this globally. See, for example, http://www.internetworldstats.com/stats.htm.

Clearly, parts of the world that could benefit hugely from democratized access to information, products, services, applications, and other human beings are very far from “completely”.

Ant

PS. See also Andrea’s blog: http://blogs.gartner.com/andrea_dimaio/2009/03/10/uk-public-service-reform-agenda-tradition-or-innovation/. How does that third get it’s say?

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