Open Forum
Weekend Open Forum
There's another weekend ahead and so much to talk about. Here's a safe space to raise whatever is on your mind.
Confidential Daily Comment
The Digital Divide
The Optus communications outage reminded us how reliant we are on technology. In its absence, the digital divide will impact almost every aspect of our lives.
2 min read
Welcome to the world without the Internet!
That's what it felt like for customers of Optus yesterday. I was on the road and left without communication as I rely on a single service provider.
My first thought was the outage was a malicious hacking incident. The company denied this, but that doesn't mean it isn't true.
Whatever the cause, the outage was both a blessing and a curse.
It was a blessing because it provided an excellent excuse to take a digital detox and not respond to the usual demands of the virtual world.
The frustration was I had so many pressing things to do that it left me behind.
The outage created a world of haves and have-nots.
Those on other networks were fine, while the Optus customers became socially and economically isolated.
In that respect, it reminded me of the COVID vaccine divide.
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