This paper examines how technological advancement, particularly the rise of computers and the Internet, contributes to social stratification. While technology benefits those who have access to it by expanding economic opportunities and skill development, it simultaneously disadvantages those without access. The paper argues that this digital divide is rooted in economic inequality — wealthier individuals and nations adopt new technologies first, gaining competitive advantages that compound over time. As the skills gap between those with and without technological access widens, so does economic inequality, both within developed nations and across the global economy. The analysis draws on sociological perspectives to illustrate how each successive wave of technology deepens existing disparities.
The modern era is often lauded as the Information Age and the Computer Age — two defining characteristics of the world we live in today. It is difficult to imagine living in a world without computers; they are in our cars, they operate our streetlights, they control the complex flow of power through an electrical grid, and perform myriad other functions that have a minute-by-minute effect on our lives. The availability of information — and misinformation — is arguably even more powerful than the simple presence and use of computers. The Internet has opened communication and distribution to a whole new level; it is now possible to transmit a piece of information, whether text, an audio file, or even video, to almost anywhere else in the world at nearly instant speeds.
Like previous technological advancements of the twentieth century — the telephone, the automobile, the airplane — the technology found in computers and the Internet has served to make the world effectively smaller, creating quicker and more efficient bonds between people and nations across geographic and cultural barriers and distances. The picture is not quite so simply rosy, however. Technology certainly helps those who have access to it, but it does nothing for those who do not. This seems obvious, of course, but the implications of this statement are far more complex than they appear on the surface, for two primary reasons.
First are the actual effects of rising levels of technology and the increasing availability of information in the world. Though generally beneficial, there are unforeseen consequences of the world's new interconnectedness. These problems are exacerbated by the second major complicating factor: exactly who has access to new technologies and who does not. Inequality is greatly increased by the rise of high technology in both simple, obvious ways and through more subtle and complex interactions.
The most important factor regarding the utilization of computers and the Internet is the direct effect these tools have on the people who have access to them. The pace and breadth possible in business has changed dramatically due to technological advancements made in the past few decades. People with access to technology are generally moving at this increased pace and have developed skills in combination with their use of computers. As their skills and the technology increase in tandem, those with access to technology not only ride the wave of technological progress but push it ever higher.
New opportunities open up as technology advances further, and these in turn require new skills to be learned. None of this presents a problem for those who regularly use new technologies, because these things evolve gradually over time. The digital divide — the gap between those who have meaningful access to information and communication technology and those who do not — is therefore not simply a matter of hardware ownership, but of the cumulative knowledge and adaptability that regular use builds.
While the new skills and technologies that are constantly developing may not pose a problem for people with access to technology, they present a major obstacle for those without access. Those who are unable to use computers, the Internet, or other elements of high technology are also unable to develop the knowledge base and skills that have come to be expected in most business environments. This means that as the pace of technological advancement rises and the skill set required for mainstream employment changes along with it, society is becoming increasingly stratified (Mooney & Knox 2007).
The technological haves and the technological have-nots have been increasingly separated throughout the twentieth century — first with the advent of the telephone, then the car, the personal computer, the cell phone, and whatever innovation will come next. Each of these technological innovations has eventually become mainstream in developed countries, but it takes time for this to happen. During that transitional period, inequality deepens.
"Wealth determines access, deepening global economic disparity"
"Domestic poverty reinforced by widening technology skills gap"
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