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Usefulness: An Issue Lost in the Digital Divide

Usefulness: An Issue Lost in the Digital Divide. A Case Study of LaGrange Internet TV Initiative. Greg Laudeman, Jan Youtie, Phil Shapira www.cherry.gatech.edu/lagrange. The Digital Divide.

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Usefulness: An Issue Lost in the Digital Divide

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  1. Usefulness: An Issue Lost in the Digital Divide A Case Study of LaGrange Internet TV Initiative Greg Laudeman, Jan Youtie, Phil Shapira www.cherry.gatech.edu/lagrange

  2. The Digital Divide • The concept, originated in the first Clinton administration, that certain populations have less access to computers, the internet, and similar technologies, and that this put them at a economic and social disadvantage • Cost and complexity are major barriers • Those on the other side of the political spectrum argued it was just the market at work.

  3. Deeper Issues • The Underlying Assumption was (is) that technology is intrinsically useful • Empirical studies show a more complex picture • Whether and how IT is used is based on self-concept and personal values because this determines whether and how IT is useful • The divide between “instigators” and “ordinary users” • How they conceptualize and use technology

  4. IT Research Beyond the Digital Divide • Technology adoption model and theories of reasoned behavior and self-efficacy (social learning) • Ease of use and perceived usefulness • Subjective factors that change over time • Usage changes perceptions • “Task-technology fit” early, organizational-political issues later • Behavioral intentions (to use IT) • Expectations of benefits (based on prior use) increase usage • IT-relate self-efficacy: Belief about ability and benefits

  5. Basically… • Usability matters early as a constraint • Usefulness matter more, later as a motivator • Attitude and circumstance effect usefulness more, and more directly, than usability “No amount of ease-of-use makes up for lack of usefulness.”

  6. LaGrange, GA • 85 miles southwest of Atlanta • Approx 12,000 households • “Full-service” municipality • Invested in telecommunication infrastructure for industry and municipality in mid-1990s • TV-based internet access provided free to citizens 2000-2004

  7. Why LaGrange Internet TV? • Business and technical opportunity • Easy internet • Electronic front porch • For the kids • Market the community • New revenue opportunities • Transition to a knowledge-based economy • Workforce skills

  8. LITV Research Project • Household-level research • What are the impacts of LITV? • Why and how do citizens use LITV? • 300 Quantitative survey research • 14 Qualitative case study research • Conducted between 2001 and 2003

  9. Householders Type 1 • Perceived LITV as useful • Relatively simple information and communications needs • Light but consistent LITV users • Otherwise diverse

  10. Householders Type 2 • Perceived LITV as useful, but not useful enough • Used LITV intensively for a while then abandoned • Primarily professional and children • More willing to experiment • Social support for internet use • Personal goal-orientation

  11. Householders type 3 • LITV broadly useful • But for someone else, general and specific • Did not use personally • Generally older and less affluent

  12. Stakeholders • LITV broadly useful • Used computer and internet at home and/or at work • Did not personally use IT • Free and easy internet for civic—not personal—purposes

  13. Themes Easy Internet Easy Internet Inexpensive tool Useful toy Workforce improvement; for the kids Marginally useful for skill-building and education Marketing the community Long-distance substitute Transition to a knowledge economy; electronic front porch Media supplement

  14. Conclusions • LITV was valuable to a particular set of householders • Modest personal requirements • No social ideals • Minimal abilities • LITV had minimal intended impacts • It had some value for a many, diverse householders • It had significant no real value for some, idealistic householders • It had non-instrumental value to stakeholders • Personal self-concept and social circumstance were most important factors in adoption and use

  15. Implications • The digital divide is really about perceptions of usefulness, not so much about cost or complexity (usability) • Much more complex than socioeconomic lines • Clearly understand the abilities, needs and social context of users/usage • Provide a catalyst for interests, predispositions • Make it practical and real • Avoid socioeconomic idealism • Deal with perceptions • Invest in ways that make experimentation possible • Leverage experiments for publicity

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