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Like a giant, sweating behemoth trudging forward into the black unknown, microprocessor technology advancements turn up daily, and with them come hundreds of new products and accessories to accompany them, improving the quality of life for many individuals and heightening productivity in multitudes of businesses. Personal computer and networking technology is becoming so mainstreamed and necessary to keep mass amounts of data and information in order that it�s almost impossible for a rising business to survive without them. That�s great for the well-off folks who can afford to keep themselves up-to-date. That�s perfect for business moguls who embrace new technology with hopes of expanding their bank accounts and mutual funds.
But what about the poor and struggling people who have a consistent history of being dumped on? What is to become of the peasant, hard at work at his low-paying blue-collar job, shaking as the behemoth lumbers toward him slowly, trampling the humble peasant village in an almost oblivious fashion?
In this brave new world of computer innovation, the advancement of technology is further expanding the gaping chasm between the rich and poor. And knowing certain buzzwords and acronyms, or even how to navigate through a word processor, could open the golden door of a shiny new job, or send one more victim back into the dark recesses of a local unemployment office.
The personal computer has crept into countless jobs over the years, demanding that employment seekers have at least minimal knowledge of how to operate them and accomplish certain tasks. Take, for instance, secretarial work and how it has changed over the years. More that just answering phones and making appointments, even the lowest paid secretaries must type out memos on computerized word processors, keep accurate digital date books and contact sheets, and access the company�s intranet to send messages and e-mail.
Computers today can help people find better jobs to improve their quality of living or offer a rope ladder out of an unemployment gorge. A word processor will allow you to create a professional-looking resume. Job postings and searchable job databases, accessed by connecting to the mainstreamed Internet, offer countless jobs � even blue collar jobs that don�t require computer proficiency. Have you gazed upon the cluttered pages of wanted ads and job listings in your local paper recently? Many postings will only list either a world wide web or e-mail address for correspondence, which only benefits those who have access to a PC and know how to navigate the Internet, an extremely useful tool in itself.
It�s a common conception that knowledge is power. With power comes success. With success usually comes wealth, in some degree or another. This being true, the Internet houses a vast overabundance of knowledge on any topic imaginable. Almost anything you could ever know or want to know can be found in digital form, which many people still do not have access to. This information could come in the form of an online manual for using various electronics and appliances, explanations of theories that may change the way you may think or view the world, or through professional message boards and e-mail systems to receive answers to any quandaries you may have from real, living people.
How can computers be introduced to the poor? The best way is through their children and their thirst for new knowledge. Kids who grow up using computers already have a head start over adults who blindly access them. The best place a child in a lower class family can access a computer would be in their schools. Unfortunately, many school systems in poorer districts lack the funding to keep that kind of technological equipment up to date � if they own any of that equipment at all. An elementary school with a library full of Apple IIe computers does no good to a child in the 21st century.
And because computer technology evolves at such an alarmingly fast pace, it is often very expensive to be up to date with today�s standards. Five or six years ago, a school library full of internet-ready computers would have been unheard of; in many poorer districts across America, it still is. And because computer technology evolves at such an alarmingly fast pace, the poor who have no knowledge of personal computers whatsoever are getting further and further behind in this age of information. It is only a matter of time before the technology gap eventually cuts off the lower class, leaving them clueless in a more modernized society.
The behemoth approaches.
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