The digital divide still exists in America.

In 2007 Kevin Guidry of Indiana University examined the digital divide in America.

He writes, “Although few of us discuss or focus on it, the digital divide still exists. There are still large numbers of Americans who do not own computers or have Internet access at home. Those who do not have Internet access at home are disproportionately unemployed, less educated, and Black or Hispanic (U.S. Census, 2009b). Even when considering Internet access outside of the home, those same disparities still prevail (Horrigan, 2009; U.S. Census, 2009a)” (Guidry, 2007, pp. 1). With smart phones being so prevalent today, could the digital divide be on its way out the door? Smart phones definitely make the Internet more accessible, but there are some pretty big issues that cell owners face.

In 2012 the Pew Research Center’s Internet & American Life Project conducted a survey that assessed the prevalence of some of the major problems that cell owners might face, especially amongst smart phones.

They found that: "Some 88% of American adults have cell phones, according to this survey, and, of those cell owners: 72% of cell owners experience dropped calls at least occasionally. 68% of cell owners receive unwanted sales or marketing calls at one time or another. Some 79% of cell phone owners say they use text messaging on their cells: 69% of those who are texters say they get unwanted spam or text messages. Some 55% of cell phone owners say they use their phones to go online (to browse the internet, exchange emails, or download apps): 77% of cell internet users say they experience slow download speeds that prevent things from loading as quickly as they would like" (Boyles & Rainie, 2012, pp. 2). As you can see from this data, the majority of American adults have cell phones and a lot of them experience problems. Further, over half of the cell phone owners have smart phones and use them to go online; with over three quarters of them experiencing issues.

The survey that the Pew Research Center’s Internet & American Life Project conducted found that the digital divide still exists.

They claim that: “Non-white cell owners confront all of these problems at somewhat higher rates than do their white counterparts. This might be tied to the fact that African-Americans and Hispanics are more likely than whites to rely on their cell phones as their primary or exclusive phones for calling and for Internet access” (Boyles & Rainie, 2012, pp. 4). Clearly whites still own computers or have Internet access at home at a higher rate than African-Americans and Hispanics. Due to this, African-Americans and Hispanics tend to rely on their smart phones to use the Internet. Because they are using their smart phones’ Internet so much more frequently than white people, African-Americans and Hispanics experience more problems with their smart phones. Even after five years, there is still a digital divide in America.

Having said that, the digital divide could disappear in the future.

Today, using a computer to access the Internet is still superior to using a smart phone. But, I predict that within the next five to ten years (or maybe even less) the Internet on smart phones will be no different than the Internet on computers. And consequently, the digital divide will no longer exist.