But blacks and Latinos flocked to the Net in even greater numbers. The changes have come so fast that even those who back strong government intervention to close the digital divide concede that much of the problem may be more easily solved than they once thought. We are moving beyond access because the market is doing tremendous things, even in areas where we thought the market would not reach. Now, Wilhelm says, advocates for the disenfranchised are focusing on the skills their clients need to use the Internet effectively as well as the information they can find once they are connected. Devices are dropping in cost as opposed to increasing, and there's an affordability factor.
Officials say the Internet's omnipresence in the news has driven interest in getting online.
At the same time, Rhode warns, job postings, health care data and education and government information posted online must become more relevant to the needs of people outside the mainstream. Otherwise, he and other activists say, gaps between the rich and poor will continue to widen. Economic conservatives say they recognize that progress has been made during the past few years, but they also say the government has wasted money on computers and Internet connections that often go unused. It's been more about skills and how to use the technologies once you get access to them. Though Thierer concedes there is a role for technology in the classroom, he and other conservatives say schools have failed to teach kids the basic skills they need to use the Internet in the first place.