The Promise of Access examines why Americans persistently believe that providing technology—particularly computers and internet access—can solve problems of poverty and inequality. Daniel Greene, an anthropologist of technology at the University of Maryland, conducted fieldwork at Washington D.C. public libraries and a startup training program to understand how the promise of digital inclusion actually plays out. He finds that technology-focused interventions consistently fail to address structural barriers while offering a more comfortable narrative than confronting the policy choices that create inequality. The startup program trained unemployed workers to code, promising entry into the tech economy; Greene follows what actually happened to graduates. Libraries offered computer access and digital literacy classes, positioned as pathways to employment and empowerment; Greene examines whether these opportunities translated into changed life circumstances. The book traces how this pattern of 'technological solutionism' has persisted across decades, from the digital divide initiatives of the 1990s through contemporary coding bootcamps and makerspaces. For readers interested in technology policy and its limitations, Greene provides ethnographically grounded analysis of why simple solutions to complex problems continue to appeal despite repeated failures.