The Digital Divide vividly mapped in NYC via Wi-Fi nodes
From Thursday, December 12, 2002
Marcos R. Lara, active in establishing free Wi-Fi access in New York, has mapped out Wi-Fi nodes across Manhattan by driving down almost every street and using a GPS device to create a vivid picture according to this New York Times story (registration required):
Mr. Lara's survey, described at www.publicinternetproject.org, also found a stark dividing line between Manhattan's haves and have-nots: 92 percent of network nodes were below 96th Street.
Andy Carvin, an editor at the Benton Foundation's Digital Divide Network (www.digitaldividenetwork.org), noted that even technology advocates involved at the street level do not always know the exact picture of usage. "Activists in the digital-divide community realize the power of mapping because it helps us fill in the blanks of what's happening where," Mr. Carvin said.