[begin sermon] In the beginning was Centralisation, and Centralisation begat ITEC, and Centralisation was ITEC. And ITEC comprised representatives from "cognate departments", which were they that lay to the North (see "more" below), and these representatives did sit in deliberation and apprortion among the supplicants that which was to be had. And they spake thus: "For wherefore doth a philosopher require a computer, when he can but sit under a Bo tree and philosophise?", and thus, the request was denied. And lo, it came to pass that those that had, got more, and those that had not, even that little which they had became obsolete and unsupported. And thus was the Digital Divide begat.
And lo, it continued thus, with those who had, getting ever more, and those who had not, falling ever further behind. And when the they spotted in the east the light of a new dawn, those who disbursed the resources said unto each other, "Lo, devolution shall come like a thief in the night, let us co-opt and share in the guilt of this which we do", and onto their number they co-opted of the disadvantaged, so that when they committed their final disbursement, lo, their hands too were unclean. And thus it came to pass that the staff of the disadvantaged were given the old, broken, unsupported PCs tossed out of the student labs of the advantage, unto whom new and shiny toys were given, that they may remain humble into the new age.
And when it was that the digital divide was most great, a marriage was wrought between those that had not, while those that had remained untouched. And those that had not were thus chastised: "o ye purveyors of dogs breakfasts, thou art indeed costly and inefficient. Slay thee thus fully a tithe of they workforce and yet more, for with a deficit do I curse the ever more!" And thus they were cursed with a deficit and told to make good on a "devolved budget" and become supplicants to their neighbour which had, while they had not.
And lo, there was much wailing and gnashing of teeth in the land of the dispossessed. But even then, they did not give up hope. Innovative and creative solutions were sought and found, and ground was gained. Although, ground was not gained, but lost - that land which belonged verily to their forefathers was taken from them, and given unto those that had, so that verily, their cause was rendered groundless. But lo, even then, they laboured on.
And their cries went up, "return to us our land!", but the ears were closed and their cries unheeded. But from on high came the accusation, "Ye careth not for your students!", and again went up the cry, "return to us our land, that we can build labs for these our students; verily, we will give up the yield of our labours so that we can build, but return to us our land on which to build." But even then, their cries were not heeded. But lo, creative and innovative solutions were found, and building began, and lo, some progress was wrought.
And lo, when progress was spotted, the voice came down from high, and spake thus: "Verily, I say unto you, it is completely inequitable that some have, and some have not. Thus, let us return to a model of centralisation, so that this matter may be more equitably addressed."
And those that had not, but had made progress nonetheless, did rent their clothing and beat their breasts in anguish, for the memories of the Market Economy were still upon them. And mothers comforted their babes thus, "Hush, suckling, do not wail thus. For maybe this time around we won't get so royally screwed." And they stilled their wails, and swallowed their fatalism, and averted their gaze from the structural forces of historical inevitability, and looked towards the future with hope.
[/end sermon]