Digital communication was supposed to be a world-altering force of liberation, freeing people from the limitations of time and space, and leading them towards a millennial land overflowing with remedies and solutions. To some extent, the evangelists spoke truth, and technology did confer hitherto unimaginable capabilities upon people, institutions, corporations and nations. But the present lockdown has revealed that technology cannot live up to the expectations generated — it cannot be a complete solution because of differential access, and because digital processes include physical steps that cannot be bypassed.
The digital divide, of which the world was painfully aware already, has been underscored yet again. The well-off appear to enjoy access to better sources of information, which is the most reliable armour available against the threat. Schooling has moved online, and the devices and bandwidth that students’ families can afford obviously make a difference. Speed differentials between town and country may be imposing yet another divide. Since the virus will be with us for some time, and some restrictions on movement may outlive the current lockdown, the effects could persist and influence the life prospects of many children. But these are known truths. The great myth that the lockdown has dented is one developed over two decades of techno-evangelism — that being digital is a complete solution, making old processes redundant and replacing them with shiny new digital tools.
