Beyond the digital divide Commentary President Clinton's recent speech narrowed on the divide between digital haves and have-nots. Obviously, anyone who doesn't have the Internet will be hampered to make it a part of his life, but other divisions within our digital generation set apart individuals into haves and have-nots. Here are a few. The boom in Silicon Valley has done little to extend the value of cultural innovators, even digital ones. Instead, many business executives and technogeeks have found new ways of reducing "idea people" to have-nots. They call them "content providers" or "knowledge experts," and often tend to fleece their talents. (This value at no cost represents a much-applauded barbarism in backroom klatches.) The digital divide also promotes foot-dragging in the average approach to technology. Rather than err on the side of freedom, social conformists err on the side of suspicion and sardonic expectations. If you ask for an up-to-date computer, company accountants accuse you of wanting the latest whiz-bang toy. If you decide to use a company computer to explore extensions of your job, you encounter the obnoxious filtering of overzealous geeks in the basement. And somehow you never get an important communication in the form of an e-mail. That would be too easy -- and surely very "unprofessional" (not to say "inappropriate"). In short, the digital divide rises with the help of the suspicious and small-minded, parochial and sanctimonious. It is erected by the selfishness of the money hungry, the power hungry, and the minions of the status quo who can't imagine patterns of behavior beyond their own. Unable to endure being bypassed, they lay obstacles for progress. Politicians like Bill Clinton perceive the digital divide as benign neglect. I think he is wrong. The enemy is within the walls, has bridged the fortifications of our fears, and wraps his icy fingers around our throats. Will we shake him off? April 19, 2000