Seth sees a new Digital Divide opening up, this one, though, based on choice rather than privilege. Hundreds of millions of people have Internet access now, and a growing majority of them even have broadband access. A smaller but rapidly increasing subset of the connected belong to what Seth (following others) labels the “digerati”:
…the digerati are using the learning tools built into the Net to get smarter, faster. A new Net tool can propogate to millions in just a week or two. Unlike the old digital divide, this means that the divide between the digerati and the rest of the world is accelerating.
So, it’s choice time.
Because, as Seth demonstrates, it is a matter of choice. There’s a learning curve involved in joining the digerati; Seth defines a number of features that distinguish the group, and those to whom the resulting table is meaningless, or who find themselves unmistakably in the “Left Behind” column, will have to scramble to catch up. But the results are worth it. It’s a heady group, the digerati, in every sense of that word: a fun conversation to participate in, an enlightened body of masters to follow, a generally fulfilling experience, richly rewarding the time and mental energy invested in the process of getting it.
So, for those of you still using Internet Explorer, procrastinating on the installation of an RSS reader, wasting your time with Peter Jennings or staying up late with the Tonight Show rather than getting up early with Boing Boing and Google News, I urge you: take the plunge! The icy waters will shock your awareness to new heights of sensitivity, and the first breath of air you gulp when you emerge will be intensely liberating.
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