Digital Britain and the 2010 General Election – My request of the parties regarding the Digital Divide
All three major political Parties have broadly presented their Technology Plans. Again it is the future realities that worry me for most of us. Their statements include:
Labour
“Investing now so we are the best placed to take advantage of the upturn."
Conservatives
Want to make Britain "the most technology-friendly country in the world".
Liberal Democrats have yet to lay out their technology policy in as much detail as the other main parties, but have been very active in the development of the Controversial Digital Economy Bill.
The Conservatives prefer opening up competition between broadband suppliers and BT whilst Labour appear to advocate a tax on telephone lines to roll out faster broadband.
My request to whoever wins is to help bridge the digital divide. Firstly, lack of engagement is a complex matter. It involves lack of understanding and fear in many cases. Going online can also be seen as “too difficult”. The problem again is perpetuated by technology companies and experts failing to appreciate that people like me are simply normal.
In my work to understand broadband offerings I faced a mountain of prices, unrealistic claims, bundled packages and technical jargon. My first reaction was to give in, but having tasted the forbidden fruit I was forced to work through the technology jungle.
Secondly, I don’t believe anyone anymore (and I am not referring to the politicians here). I live just outside of a major city and can’t even get a 2Mb line, yet most of the broadband companies are offering me speeds up to 20Mbs. This is misleading at best, but dishonest in my eyes.
Please just make broadband easier and more reliable first, then worry about making it faster.
Digital Britain and the 2010 General Election – My request of the parties regarding the Digital Divide
All three major political Parties have broadly presented their Technology Plans. Again it is the future realities that worry me for most of us. Their statements include:
Labour
“Investing now so we are the best placed to take advantage of the upturn."
Conservatives
Want to make Britain "the most technology-friendly country in the world".
Liberal Democrats have yet to lay out their technology policy in as much detail as the other main parties, but have been very active in the development of the Controversial Digital Economy Bill.
The Conservatives prefer opening up competition between broadband suppliers and BT whilst Labour appear to advocate a tax on telephone lines to roll out faster broadband.
My request to whoever wins is to help bridge the digital divide. Firstly, lack of engagement is a complex matter. It involves lack of understanding and fear in many cases. Going online can also be seen as “too difficult”. The problem again is perpetuated by technology companies and experts failing to appreciate that people like me are simply normal.
In my work to understand broadband offerings I faced a mountain of prices, unrealistic claims, bundled packages and technical jargon. My first reaction was to give in, but having tasted the forbidden fruit I was forced to work through the technology jungle.
Secondly, I don’t believe anyone anymore (and I am not referring to the politicians here). I live just outside of a major city and can’t even get a 2Mb line, yet most of the broadband companies are offering me speeds up to 20Mbs. This is misleading at best, but dishonest in my eyes.
Please just make broadband easier and more reliable first, then worry about making it faster.
“BT doesn’t make Lily Allen (or Lilla Harris) smile”
Addressing the world via Twitter, Lily Allen, the singer, last week asked "Anyone know who the CEO of BT is? I'd find out myself but my internet connection is so bad I can't even Google. Such bad service, awful."
I know it must be difficult to be at the top of your game year in year out, but BT, the great British cornerstone and trusted service provider to the nation, especially the older generations, seems to be creaking.
I totally sympathise with Lily Allen, when we recently tried to connect BT broadband at home, it took weeks of endless calls. Finally I gave up. In desperation my partner travelled down to BT headquarters in Newgate Street, London, stood in the lobby and refused to move until someone from management met with him. We eventually got our internet connected.
If Lily Allen can’t get decent connectivity my fear is that many other people are missing out. In fact, it has bothered me so much ... how does the saying go? “If you can’t beat them, join them!” .... Well my experience has led me to start a new broadband service. I approached a leading UK technology company and at the end of March we will be launching Simpler Broadband.
Simpler Broadband will include no catches:
- we will not double the monthly price in three months.
- we will not promise you 20Mb speed, because (like Lily Allen) you probably won’t get it.
- we will not try and cross sell, TV, telephone calls etc.
- we will provide safe, straight forward packages.
- we will use straight forward language and help videos.
- we will provide a telephone line that will be answered.
- we will also offer a monthly payment option so you can try without a contract.
I also think it is important to include honest explanations of security software, some of which is free, and a speed tester so you can actually tell what quality broadband you are receiving.
It seems pretty simple to me ...
Read more at about Lily Allen’s story at the Telegraph:
“Grandparents get greater rights” – but what exactly will this mean?
It is wonderful and greatly overdue news to hear that both leading Parties are advocating a positive change for Grandparents Rights. But when I look at the few details that are available, I am still concerned with what will actually change for grandparents.
Removing the barrier of grandparents having to seek leave from the Courts before applying for contact with their grandchildren is a significant move forward.
Mr Balls, Children’s Secretary, refers to the informal care arrangements that grandparents provide. The Tories talk about “mending Britain’s broken society”. The practical issue is that, in a caring society, we cannot allow our children to lose contact with their grandparents. It is not about the costs of caring or tax breaks ....
The Grandparents Association, Families Need Fathers and the Family Matters Institute with the support of Gloria Hunniford highlighted the real issues in their Report: “Including the Wider Family” – following the separation of parents:
67% of grandparents found themselves excluded from providing care
42% lost all face-to-face contact with their grandchildren
80% of children experienced a change in childcare arrangements
My question is, even with this legal change, how will the Court take account of grandparents rights in a practical way. When child contact actions reach the Courts it is because the parents cannot agree and in most cases matters have already turned rather hostile. How will grandparents be considered? If they are allocated contact periods, will that be carved out of the father’s contact time or the mother’s? Will overnight stays be considered? What about holidays? We will have to wait for the answers to these already difficult questions.
The Government, the Courts and the parents will have to consider a variety of ways for grandchildren and grandparents can keep connected. This will include the internet.
My partner’s mother is 85 years old. She is an active Chairperson for a branch of the NSPCC, but she is not allowed to see her two grandchildren. The NSPCC allows her to be involved with children, but she can’t see her “own”. This is the real World. How can this be? Even a photo or a message would be groundbreaking for her.
She does not want leaflets or websites to talk to other grandparents. She simply wants to connect with her grandchildren.
Microsoft and Intel are supporting trials at www.finerday.com, for safe, easy to use, ways to connect online.
The fact that it is now clear that the UK Government has missed its EU agreement to halve the number of people not online by 2010 appears to have prompted a possible new approach to issue of the digital divide. Martha Lane Fox, the Country’s Champion for Digital Inclusion, has suggested that the Government should make people use the internet by forcing them to pay their Council Tax and TV Licence online.
"I think that shutting down services would be the best way of carrying through the most amount of people, as long as it is carried through with training” said Martha.
I very much respect Martha Lane Fox, and continue to believe that she is a significant inspiration for championing digital inclusion, although I worry greatly about this suggestion and hope this is not a serious change in direction and policy.
We are talking about the more vulnerable people in our society; older, unemployed, lower income. During a recession, when most people are looking for all possible savings they can make to survive, forcing them to buy a computer, connectivity, change telephone providers, bus fares to travel into town once or twice a week for training, is, at best, concerning. I am afraid that suggesting that being internet connected will save on average each household £560 a year simply does not work – not just because of the maths, but for the many other reasons that these people do not already use the internet (which I have referred to in previous articles).
These are not “average households” and are less likely to spend enough online to save £560 a year. It reminds me of the story of the Wind and the Sun. The Wind said to the Sun that it could force a man to take his coat off, but no matter how hard and forceful the Wind blew to force his coat off, the man just hung onto his coat even tighter. Then the Sun simply and gently warmed up the day and the man happily took his coat off.
Further, the Government has already supported a policy of training as being the answer. The facts show that this has not worked. So how will “forcing” people whilst providing more training work?
Generally the people that Martha refers to, rely on their TV as their major source of comfort and entertainment. So perhaps this new initiative could be the answer? I doubt it very much! What I do see is a large number of worried and frightened older people.
Older people are “increasingly isolated due to internet”
Written by Lilla Harris
Monday, 07 December 2009 13:36
Older people are “increasingly isolated due to internet”. Why don’t older people use the Internet? To find the answer we must first understand the question?
A recent major survey by the Oxford Internet Institute found:
Only half of over 50’s have access to the internet.
Not being on-line will lead to exclusion from telecare, entertainment, online socialising and shopping.
Growing isolation.
According to the Oxford Internet Institute (OII), at Oxford University, many elderly people resist technology through fear of pornography or the lack of security associated with the web. Professor Bill Dutton states “Getting older people to experience the internet, when they distrust it, is central to the challenge”. Older people are very concerned about SPAM, viruses and unpleasant experiences.
The survey also found that lower incomes of pensioners meant they could not afford a computer.
Of the 2,013 people surveyed, 47.1 per cent of the over-50s said they had never used the internet, compared with 9.6 per cent of 25- to 49-year-olds. Interestingly, but not surprisingly, even those older people who do use the internet only use basic features such as email.
In my experience of working with older people there is another “fear”, that is the fear that a computer and the internet is just “too difficult”. These are basic fears that many of us share. I don’t know how to use the video recorder, and leave it to my children. I also fear many sites on the internet, in fact I shut my computer down recently when a new Microsoft update automatically started. I had no idea whether if was safe or not ...
So what should we learn from this?
Key is the simple, yet complex, question of “cost v benefit”. Does an older person see and/or understand the advantages of going online? AND does this outweigh the fears, mistrust, financial cost, and need to learn a new skill?
