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August 12, 2004
Quoted in Chicago Tribune Article on the Digital Divide
In today's issue of the Chicago Tribune I'm quoted in the story Hispanic Market Targeted by AOL. The article talks about a new AOL business endeavor to sell low-cost computers bundled with Internet access, with a particular emphasis on Spanish-speaking households.
The reporter had contacted me to ask if cost was the only barrier for Latinos going online. I said it's often a major factor, but not the only one. In particular, I talked about the challenge of finding culturally- and linguistically-relevant content; while Spanish-language content has increased dramatically in recent years, English is still the dominant lingua franca on the Net. For Latino households with limited English proficiency, this can be a major drawback. I also discussed the broader challenge of improving ICT literacy amongst Latinos and other minority groups; if you don't know how to use a computer, having one available for a few hundred bucks isn't necessarily very enticing.
Unfortunately for me, not much of the conversation made it into the article. That's okay, though; a quote is a quote, as long as it's not a misquote.... -andy
Posted by acarvin at August 12, 2004 11:08 AM
Listen to a computer-generated podcast of this article
