[technology and power]

Such complexities can arise thanks to new technologies. I have in mind instances of music groups (like Radiohead) who's album was available on an mp3 download site three months before its scheduled release. Although the album was available online can we assume that the same people who would purchase the physical album would prefer to download a digital version? This is where questions of power come in I think. Who has access to the internet and to mp3 (or video) sites? Who has the knowledge to dowload (protected) mp3s and listen to them (or convert them)? Similarly, who has access to DVDs. Although cheaper and more readily available that when they first arrived on the scene, I wonder if the DVD version reaches a different audience from the television viewers? In the case of DVDs of television series, Deana Myers, senior analyst with Kagan Research, says "There are two types of people. One type waits for it to come out on DVD and watches it all at once, and the other wants to watch it immediately."
With regards to internet technology I wonder who are the "power users." Is there a "profile" which points to savvy professionals, high-income earners, self-employed, secondary-age students (and how does geographical location affect this?) or is there no profile (like with suicide bombers?)...I find this fascinating especially when I think of places like Bangalore (which evokes in me ideas of dusty streets, millions of people milling about, the odd cow crossing the road) that have witnessed an incredible and almost immediate growth thanks to technology and outsourcing.