ABSTRACT
It is one of the barest facts of the new information age that it has dawned in a world that is defined by inequality. Bearing in mind the promise and potential of ICT developments, and much of the genuine excitement (and hype) that has been generated about them, this is a deeply depressing scenario. Neither is it something particularly new, as the technological developments of the twentieth century and the growth of mass production and consumption associated with them, together with the internationalization of markets post-1945, have produced a highly contradictory legacy. There has undoubtedly been major economic growth and an expansion of wealth, markets and development, as well as a geographic spread of production, particularly through globalization, bringing employment and other benefits to the less developed world. This fits in with the neoliberal promise of benefits for all through the spread of capitalism, and its competitive structure.
