Ch.1.3 Help desk Technology Impacts

What is the digital divide?

It is a term used to highlight the difference in accessibility to technology.

Collaborative Consumption

Collaborative consumption is when many people join together as a group to use a specific product more efficiently. In many cities, the Citi Bike program allows people to subscribe to a bike and then use any of thousands of bikes located throughout the city. In New York City alone over 25 million trips have been completed by riders. We are so constantly connected with each other that there are increasing opportunities to redistribute the things we have purchased and to share the services a product provides instead of owning it outright.

What is crowdfunding?

Crowdfunding is way to help businesses gather financial contributions from many people using the Internet.

The "sharing economy" is made possible by technology and Internet connectivity. What kinds of things are people sharing?

Custom products, preowned items, transportation services, office space, or places to stay are all examples of things that can be shared.

The Sharing Economy

The availability of personal cognitive surplus and access to Web 2.0 apps has given rise to new types of economic models. Crowdfunding is a way of generating capital to start a business that asks for small donations from many people. Entrepreneurs often post videos, art work, and other media to try to sell their ideas. Crowdsourcing is a related but different term. Existing companies often check in with the opinions of their customers and potential customers using social media, apps, or email to generate ideas for new products or to improve existing products.

What operating system is required to use Web 2.0 tools?

You can use any operating system to run many different Web 2.0 tools and apps.

The digital divide

an uneven distribution of access to computer technology, will make it difficult for us to solve global problems.

Web 2.0

is a set of features and functionality that allows Internet users to contribute content easily and to be easily connected to each other.

Cognitive surplus

is the combination of leisure time and access to tools to work on problems and be creative.

Collaborative consumption

is when many people join as a group to use a specific product more efficiently. Examples are ride-sharing services such as Lyft and Uber.