Some simple truths:

People need information to enable them to improve their lives.

People need information to be available at the right time: Yesterday's weather report is only of historic interest.  Timely information allows people to make informed decisions and be in control of their lives.

People need to have information at the right price.

Two hundred years ago before the invention of the Penny Post families could write to each other but rarely did so because of the cost of sending a letter by commercial services. When it cost a week's wages to post a letter from London to Bath very few letters were sent by ordinary people.  

These two factors Timeliness and the Cost of Information are the real foundations of an Information Society. It is part of a two stage process

Make the Information available - Stage 1

Teach people how to use the information - Stage 2

Only after information is available on time and at the right price can people be taught how to use it. Until now development has focused too much on the second stage by creating pockets of expertise in handling information (based around out of date and expensive textbooks in static schoolrooms) rather than a universal first stage of up to date correctly priced information.  But properly applied technology presents an alternative to Conventional Personal Computers