Smartphones "are the PCs of the developing world"

(Updated 7/82007)

Freely available 2 page report by Jessica Marshall in the 4/8/2007 New Scientist highlighting the utility of smartphones in the developing world. 2 excerpts:

"Smartphones may seem like a frivolous indulgence for rich westerners, but it turns out that their added features can be harnessed to help people in poorer countries do business, educate their children and even hold those in power to account."

"Farmers can also use photo and video-recording facilities on cellphones to share information about farming practices. In India, the non-profit organisation Almost All Questions Answered (aAqua) already operates a network where farmers can send questions to agricultural experts via text message or the internet, and check crop price information. But it is only accessible to those who can read, says Srinivasan Keshav of the University of Waterloo in Ontario, Canada. 'If you're educated, you can send text. If you're not, you need video or audio.'"

See also (via David Weinberger), this lucid 5/8/2007 article by Ethan Zuckerman in the Boston Globe "Building big: start small - a radical new way for poor countries to get the phones, power, and roads they need"about the take-off of mobile telephony in the Democratic Republic of Congo, and its economic impact.

Back-links:

• 28/7/2007 - Point-to-point wi-fi brings internet access to all;
• 27/1/2007 - Mobile phones in Africa;
• 14/12/2006 - Wireless Ghana;
• 17/10/2006 - What would you install on One Laptop Per Child;
• 22/9/2006 - 80% of the population is covered by a mobile network.

Comments

[Stephen Downes]

What is the common root of two apparently unrelated science stories on mobile phones in the Congo? Actual scientific merit? Or...

http://africa.reuters.com/business/news/usnBAN826846.html

Gotta watch those marketing campaigns.

p.s.

The Economist loves this story and has been plugging it for years.
http://www.economist.com/finance/displaystory.cfm?story_id=8089667
http://www.economist.com/world/africa/displaystory.cfm?story_id=8597377
http://www.economist.com/world/africa/displaystory.cfm?story_id=E1_RVJSPSS
and many many more.

Because it gives them a way to say that all Africa needs is unfettered capitalism (you know, the kind the phone company practices).

=====

Stephen

Interesting. I'm not so sure there is a common root in this instance - though of course there is a background "business press enthusiasm" for mobile telephony. And if there is a common root between Marshall's New Scientist piece, and Zuckerman's Boston Globe article, I do not think it is that Reuter's piece. What makes you so sure?

Seb
13/8/2007

==

I say there is a common root because it stretched probabilities that there would be two unrelated articles on the subject of mobile phones in the Congo at the same time.

I picked the Reuters piece because it was the only thing I could find.

Stephen
13/8/2007