Digitale Spaltung. Neue Perspektiven auf ein altes Problem

In the current transition from industrial society towards an „information society”, the importance of access to and information about new information and communication technologies is ever growing. A „digital divide” between competent users and nonusers, forming a new class of „information have-nots”, may be the consequence. – The author points to the increasing importance of the Internet as a provider of everyday information, as well as to the danger of excluding great numbers of individuals from accessing and using Internet information as a consequence of differences in age, educational background, technical and general media competence. He describes various problem levels relevant to the „digital divide” and argues in favour of long-term political, educational and research strategies to alleviate these problems.