Neowin.net

A big thankyou to Rancho of Warp2search for this update. Here they are! Hot from VIAArena.

Changes
Updated Via INF driver from version 1.20a to 1.30, add quickly and silent install function, modify Bitmap picture, and fixed setup issue under Windows XP.

Download: Via 4-in-1 driver set v4.33 (1mb)
View: Install and additional instructions @ VIAArena

     In the United States, 51% of households have a computer and 41.5% have internet access. Of households making more than $75,000 a year, 86.3% of them have internet access while only 11% of households making less than $15,000 a year have it. The incredible difference between the two groups is startling, yet it pales in comparison to the global number, 6% of the world has internet access.
     The difference between the two groups is far more than playing games and chatting with friends. Computers enable people for school. A recent survey of Canadian students found that 44% of students prefer the internet for information compared to 35% preferring books. The internet brings far more information to students. The information makes them more knowledge, but it also forces them to discern the relevant and accurate information. These skills equip the students for college and the workplace, where nothing is as black and white as it is in the school world. In addition, the computer skills they develop now are going to help them in a future job. Businesses are so computer driven that it would be stupid not to higher someone with computer skills over someone without them. The digital divide lessens the opportunities of the poor.
     In the corporate world, there divide grows wider. Those that can control inventory, manage customer relations, and anticipate demand are going to be more profitable and make it in the long run. The technology improvements of the last 10 years have increased companies’ sustainable growth 50%. Companies in the third world countries do not have this benefit of technology. They cannot analyze their data, and they remain to be extremely inefficient.
     Part of the solution to the digital divide is to continue to make cheaper and cheaper computer but to also make computers more accessible in public locations. When I was in Romania, everyone at the church that I visited was so proud of the 486-DX computer that was there. Although not the most up to date computer, many of the people there gained knowledge of how to operate a computer. They were more able than their peers to work in the new workplace. A home computer would be far too expensive for a person there; the average wage was $80 a month. You can assist in helping seem the digital divide by becoming active in legislation to put computers in public places and by donating old computers and resources to organizations that will distribute them to the poor. The digital divide should not be something we are content to live with. If a group is left behind, this will not be a digital divide, but it will apartheid rule to us.