Word for lack of understanding at scale?
Imagine we're back in the days when the Internet was born. Over the next few years, only a tiny fraction of the population understood how the Internet works.
How would an early adopter succinctly describe the flocks of people who don't have a clue about the Internet?
Note: bonus points if the word refers to an asymmetry of information, whereby one party knows a lot more than everybody else.
Solution 1:
I think 'unenlightened' could work here:
having or showing a lack of necessary knowledge or understanding
// ... an audience of unenlightened laymen.
(source: Merriam-Webster)
Laymen (or the gender-neutral laypersons) itself is another candidate.
Solution 2:
Uninitiated
The word with the least negative connotation I can think of is "uninitiated". Although "unenlightened" is very similar, and both essentially mean the same thing as "ignorant", both "unenlightened" and "ignorant" are often used in a subject-independent way ("an ignorant/uninformed/unenlightened person") with the implication that the person's lack of understanding is at least partly due to their own unwillingness to learn or adopt new methods.
While these words can be used in a truly neutral tone when they're explicitly linked to a topic ("ignorant/uninformed/unenlightened about message board etiquette", for example), I think they still carry a slight pejorative emphasis compared to "uninitiated", which is always used in a domain-specific way and implies that the person's ignorance is no fault of their own - in this case, the user simply hasn't been "initiated" into the esoteric mysteries of the Internet yet.
Solution 3:
Technophobe
someone who dislikes new technology, especially computers, and is not able to use it with confidence https://dictionary.cambridge.org/us/dictionary/english/technophobe
Technophobia (from Greek τέχνη technē, "art, skill, craft"[1] and φόβος phobos, "fear"[2]) is the fear or dislike of advanced technology or complex devices, especially computers. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Technophobia
Although this word is not specifically about the internet, it's close.
You ask for asymmetry. The opposite of technophobe is technophile.
- a person who is enthusiastic about new technology: "he became an ardent technophile, buying every new gadget on the market" Powered by Oxford Dictionaries
Solution 4:
What about "muggles"?
Those like Vernon & Petunia Dursley know nothing about the magic world in Harry Potter novels.