Taran Rampersad wrote:
Njideka Harry wrote:
Don,
"Voice email" is part of a program ("SpokesYouth") we are in the process of designing at Youth for Technology Foundation's Owerri Digital Village in Nigeria. Villagers will be able to record messages on an audio enabled PDA. These files will be .wav files, which will then be sent as email attachments to their families and loved ones in urban areas or in the Nigerian diaspora.
.WAV files are fairly large and inefficient; MP3 and OGG files may be worthwhile for your group to look into. The size of the files is typically noticeably smaller, and I expect that within the region you are writing of there is an issue of bandwidth. A successful implementation with WAV files may work well, but if it becomes too successful it may put strain on the infrastructure, which defeats the purpose.
I am curious what sort of PDA is being used for this?
Your thoughts about the spread of cellphones, especially in rural areas, though is definitely a risk worth looking at, especially as governments are looking at improving the rural telecommunications structure, particularly in developing countries - China recently granted Nigeria a 200M loan to build their rural communications infrastructure.
Cell phones are king in this regard. Text messaging is quite popular, especially among the younger generations. I'm not ashamed to say that it caught me completely by surprise! I cannot deny it's effects. Here in Trinidad and Tobago, it's effect is spreading rapidly.
-- Thomas A Webb http://www.ospueblo.com - Open Source and Educational Resources http://wordwonder.com - For Readers and Thinkers
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