Nebula 5.4, December 2008 Kent: Digital Divide… 84 Digital Divide 2.0 and the Digital Subaltern. By Mike Kent Introduction Initial awareness of issues relating to the digital divide were raised by the 1999 study Falling Through the Net: Defining the Digital Divide from the Department of Commerce in the United States. 1 The development and perpetuation of a digital divide between the information ‘haves’ and ‘have nots’ was framed as a problem of ‘access.’ In the context of the increasing online population, debates about social inequity have often been directed at technical barriers to access, the physical infrastructure, and economic impediments to the adoption of the medium by all members of society. However, like the Internet itself, the nature of this divide is changing and has evolved in the last decade. New theories of understanding and new strategies of intervention are required to overcome new barriers to access presented by digital divide 2.0. This paper seeks to inform this process by focusing on those currently excluded from access to the digital environment not so much by a lack of physical infrastructure but rather by forces related to cultural capital and consciousness. This group without a voice in discourses about access has become a new type of digital subaltern. However this digital subaltern has qualities unique to the digital environment that they do not share with their analogue counterparts. Internet Access When an individual accesses the Internet, they do so alone. While they might be sharing content over the network with others, the actual interface with the screen occurs alone, even if it is in a room full of other people accessing the Internet, such as at an Internet cafe. In order for access to occur a number of elements need to be present. The most obvious of these is the physical hardware of the computer and network. This hardware is enabled by the software that allows it to operate. While these two elements – hardware and software – are important, the third element – wetware – also plays a pivotal role. Wetware is a term less widely deployed than hardware or software. We can trace its relatively recent origins back to science fiction and cyberpunk literature. 2 Wetware represents the knowledge and experience 1 J. McConnaughey, D. W. Everette, T. Reynolds & W. Lader (eds), Falling Through the Net: Defining the Digital Divide. Washington: U.S. Department of Commerce, 1999. 2 Rudy Rucker’s book with this title won the Philip K. Dick Award for best science fiction paperback in 1989. R. Rucker Wetware. New York: Avon Books, 1988.