In the current transition from industrial society towards an „information society“, the importance of access to and information
about new information and communication technologies is ever growing. A „digital divide“ between competent users and nonusers,
forming a new class of „information have-nots“, may be the consequence. – The author points to the increasing importance
of the Internet as a provider of everyday information, as well as to the danger of excluding great numbers of individuals
from accessing and using Internet information as a consequence of differences in age, educational background, technical and
general media competence. He describes various problem levels relevant to the „digital divide“ and argues in favour of long-term
political, educational and research strategies to alleviate these problems.
