In recent decades, many Asian countries have joined the “haves”. Certainly, by most standards, places like Japan, Hong Kong and Singapore are rich. But just as it seems that they might relax and say they have it made, they are suddenly faced with a new challenge: the economic rules have changed. The emerging divide is no longer between the traditional haves and have-nots, but between those nations that are wired and those that are not. Of course, the developed countries already have the edge: Singapore, with a population of 4 million, has more than 500,000 computers, while Vietnam with 80 million people, possesses only 6,000 machines.