-----Original Message-----
From: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
[mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] Behalf Of Subbiah
Arunachalam
Sent: Monday, May 30, 2005 6:54 AM
To: [EMAIL PROTECTED]; The Digital Divide Network discussion group
Subject: Re: [DDN]The Personal vs the Social Computer Was: Updateonthe
Simputer
What Subbiah Arunachalam and his colleagues are doing in southern India is
a
model that can be adapted to many other countries and cultures: the model
travels.
Perhaps the Digital Divide Network needs to promote the idea of a "public
commons" to accelerate the availability of the new technologies to those
around the world who need them.
Steve Eskow
[EMAIL PROTECTED]
I agree with you Steve. At each one of the M S Swaminathan Research
Foundation Knowledge Centres in Pondicherry in southern India we have a
few
computers - not more than five in any centre, and one of them is out of
bounds for all but the centre volunteers. But these are common assets for
the entire village. What is at work is the idea of public commons. We
cannot
afford to provide computers and telephones and Internet accounts to
everyone
in the village. That is the reality. How can we overcome the problem? What
we lack is the financial resources to buy gadgets. What we have is a large
heart, a willingness to share what little we have, a commitment to care
for
others. After all development is about sharing and caring. The computers
and
every other service provided at the centre (such as information on a whole
range of local needs) is open to all. It works well. Eventually, when an
individual (or a family) earns enough to be able to afford something
he/she
may decide to 'own' it.
Arun
[Subbiah Arunachalam]
----- Original Message -----
From: "Dr. Steve Eskow" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
To: "The Digital Divide Network discussion group"
<[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
Sent: Sunday, May 29, 2005 6:46 AM
Subject: RE: [DDN]The Personal vs the Social Computer Was: Update onthe
Simputer
Taran, I wish you'd reconsider your "basic economics": for example, your
belief that $480 that stays in India to buy a computer is "better" than
buying one elsewhere for $300. That may not sit well with those in India
or
Africa who have to buy a computer. Ghana, where I work, is richer than
some
of its sub-Saharan neighbors: $400 US is what the average Ghanaian earns
a
year, a year's earning not quite enough to buy your Simputer.
And I wish you'd reconsider conclusions like this one:
<<If you've ever had to share one computer with 20 people, and it was
your
only access point, I doubt you would be able to email as often. You
wouldn't have leisure time to read articles that *you* might find
interesting.>>
I've had to share buses and trains with many people, and you're right:
it's
not nearly as convenient as owning my own automobile. And I've had to get
my
learning at public schools, not nearly as convenient as private tutoring.
And I've had to borrow books from a public library, not nearly convenient
as
buying my own and owning them.
And I've used computers at libraries and internet cafes, and you're
right:
sharing a computer is not nearly as convenient as owning one.
And I ask you to consider that your convenience argument is misleading,
and
downright harmful.
If we insist on private automobiles, millions will be continue to be
without
rapid transport, and we will continue to foul the environment.
And if we insist on personal ownership of books, millions will not read,
even if we cut down enough trees for all those books.
And if we insist on the personal computer, billions will not cross the
digital divide.
If the advantages of the Simputer at $480 are so much greater than that
of
the desktop at less, let's urge small churches or cafes or schools in the
poorer nations to buy one or two or three and share them, until such time
as
the folks in the community can afford to buy their own.
<<In the focus on the reduction of cost, I sincerely believe by these
communications that the increase in quality of life as the *value* has
been lost.>>
You may have it backwards, Taran. Those who insist on personal
automobiles
and personal libraries and personal computers may be the ones who are
slowing down the erasure of the many divides between the haves and the
have-nots.
Steve Eskow
[EMAIL PROTECTED]
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