Cheap smartphones have brought the internet to people who never owned a computer.
In many countries the phone is now the only a household owns.
That is progress, but it creates a second, quieter gap.
A phone is excellent for information and poor for producing it.
Writing a report, editing a or coding on a small screen is slow and tiring.
Students who study only on a phone therefore practise a narrower set of skills.
Data costs deepen the .
Where mobile data is expensive, families video and avoid large downloads.
Free access to certain apps sounds generous, yet it steers users into a few services.
Public libraries and school computer rooms remain the cheapest fix.
A shared keyboard for two hours a week changes what a student can do.
Counting connections alone therefore progress.
The useful question is not who is online, but what they can do there.