"In a society where knowledge-intensive activities are an increasingly important component of the economy, the distribution of knowledge across the population is increasingly linked to stratification. Much attention among both academic researchers and in policy circles has been paid to what segments of the population have access to the Internet or are Internet users. Although the medium has seen high rates of diffusion, its spread has been unequal both within and across nations. In this chapter, I look at (a) individual-level inequality in Internet access and use in the United States, (b) cross-national variation in connectedness, and (c) inequality from the side of content producers in gaining audiences for their material online."

"Debates over the digital divide have been dogged by disagreements over how the gap is defined, and therefore quantified, as a report that [International Society for Technology in Education] released at the summit suggested. 'Though an exact definition remains elusive, the term 'digital divide' generally refers to the disconnect that occurs between those with access to technology and those without, while recognizing the myriad factors that can have an impact on that inequity,' the report says." (2007)

One aspect of the digital divide includes urban-rural connectivity disparity. Jessamyn West is a rural librarian and advocate of bridging the urban-rural digital divide. The above link is to the audio recording of Jessamyn's facilitation of the "Offline America" session at last year's SXSW (South by Southwest) conference. You can get the lecture notes, slides and more here: http://librarian.net/talks/sxsw2011/.