For example, the Urban Technology Center on 145th Street in Harlem can't get access to a high-speed DSL line, and teachers have to go down to 60th Street to get spare parts. Reports of the digital divide cut against companies investing in them. A number of recent studies have dispelled old assumptions about low-income people and their comfort levels with technology. A Pennsylvania State University study found that blacks and Latinos use more premium cable products than other groups. Another found that even though fewer blacks are online than whites, they spend a comparable amount of money in online shopping the Internet.
Venture capitalists appear to be responding.
In the past few months, a number of big name companies and celebrities have put capital behind developing products specifically aimed at minority communities. The current rate of growth in minorities logging on is already astounding. In fact, it's growing faster than TV or radio did at this point in their history. People like Davis help explain why. In September, he didn't own a computer.