The Effect of Poverty on the Use of Technology (Part 4)

Our use of technology depends on the knowledge and information that we have about it and the skills that we subsequently develop due to such information. And as previously discussed, this information need not be based on the actual use of the technology involved but may be based on ones own personal idea of what the technology is all about. And for this idea to materialize, one does not need a high level of formal education.

In line with this, the environment that we see all around us has the effect on how we see this knowledge and its possible applications with technology. After all, each and every kind of technology has to be applied in society. In looking at the effect of poverty on the use of technology, we then have to see and incorporate the current practices of those under poverty that may be utilized to assist in the ease of access that would help in the incorporation of such relatively new technology into that kind of setting.

This leads me to the second effect of poverty on technology. This is that poverty somehow challenges developers of technology to create new kinds of technology that would be cheaper but could reach more people. This gives me the impression that even though poverty is by itself a terrible concept, it is nevertheless an opportunity.

This challenge likewise involves the development of technology keeping in mind what comes natural to all human beings, regardless of socio-economic status. Hence, it helps keep things simple, despite the seemingly complicated nature of technology.

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Rivera, Jan Michael A.
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