Tom, Your article reminds me of my small village in Nigeria, where the parish priest chose to give back to the community by sharing the power generator and the V-SAT in the rectory with the villagers through subsidized phone and internet communication service.
Honestly speaking, "personal" ICT tools(including PC)RARELY exist in many rural African villages. In other words, they are frequently converted to "social ICT Tools.") In my village, a person that rides a Corvette or Porsche (excluding the recent supersized models) is tagged "stingy" and "selfish." The view is that this individual bought the car with the INTENT not to give relatives, friends, and neighbors a ride. What a social offence! Social Computers might be inevitable in the rural and underprivileged communities where communalism is still the best cherished tradition, however, we have to realize that my village is in the same country as advanced cities like Abuja, Lagos, Port Harcourt, etc where social computers might not be so embraced because the needs and the social setting in those cities are different. At this juncture, I beg to echo Sandy's words: "I think success is more likely when users have been given enough information to help design their own solutions that will work for them and their communities," and the support that they need to pull them through. That leads us to the next vital Digital Bridge question: HOW DO WE KNOW WHEN WE HAVE GIVEN THE USERS ENOUGH INFORMATION? Again we have to get to know the users (the communities,) and socialize with them, to understand their culture, tradition, and their immediate needs at each point in time. Thanks everyone for continuously BEING the systems: cables, hubs, switches, repeaters, etc needed for the Network that will eventually bridge the Digital Divide. Have a nice week. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Mary (Molly) Uzoh Chief Learning Officer Learning Right Technologies P. O. Box 51616 San Jose, CA 95151 Phone: (408) 531-1967 [EMAIL PROTECTED] ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ About Learning Right Technologies Headquartered in the heart of the Silicon Valley of California, Learning Right Technologies is a certified minority (African American) woman owned, small business that specializes in IT consulting and educational services/tools. We provide interactive multimedia e-learning curriculum development, FOSS implementation, technical training, educational and television production, research services. Our team of consultants is made up of hi-tech professionals with academic specialization in computer science, mathematics, instructional technology, multimedia design including video streaming, database administration, as well as several years of management, and very strong hands-on technical experience in delivering learning services to schools, government agencies, small to medium size businesses, and high tech corporations. We have just completed the design and development of a prototype of a series of interactive multimedia e-learning software. At www.learningright.com, we respect your right2learn the right thing, the right way; and at the right place, the right time and the right price. -----Original Message----- From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] Behalf Of Tom Abeles Sent: Wednesday, June 01, 2005 10:03 AM To: [EMAIL PROTECTED]; The Digital Divide Network discussion group Subject: Re: [DDN] Re: The Personal vs the Social Computer Was: Update onthe Simputer Here is where the technological articles of faith play an interesting roll In one african village there is only enough fuel to run the generator for a few hours/day. the choice of how to use those precious KW/hrs is in the hands of the person controlling the keys to the generator. The decision has been made to use those electrons to run a TV set, for entertainment purposes. In the US, when TV's were first introduced, those below the poverty line had the devices when the middle class decided to spend their fiscal resources elsewhere. In Mexico, I was in a small village where the kids would spend their pesos on electronic games and sweets. It is now verified that, in the US, college students spend more time playing computer games than studying (not sure of the details) In the US, major highways increased the access of farmers to markets for their goods. It also increased the concentration of folk into regional centers leading to the demise of rural communities and business in favor of regional "big box" stores. One must be careful about what one wishes for; you might, like Midas, get that wish thoughts? tom abeles Sandra Andrews wrote: >Thank you, Aditie, for giving us a look at a plausible scenario in rural >India. Frankly I do see Taran's work as investigating such scenarios as he >travels, and I am eager to hear what he finds. Perhaps he will find some >places where a simputer would be appropriate, and others where it would not >be so. > >But if we have enough information, we might be able to find flexible enough >answers. > >Here is another scenario to consider, this time in Mexico. > >The background: The group I am involved with, >floaters.org<http://floaters.org>, >has historically focused on those who are *least likely to have access. >Living in Arizona as we do, various group members have developed a small >number of volunteer- and donation-based technology integration projects in >Mexico. > >Here is one finding: Unless we can offer solar-powered technology, or better >infrastructure, home-based computing is not going to work in some areas, >even in a city. > >The scenario: If you live in a small home, with no running water perhaps (I >mention this just to give you something to visualize), and if the only >electrical outlet is that attached to a bare light fixture hanging from the >ceiling, then the chances of frying your keyboard (or worse) are high. You'd >really have to replace your surge protector often, more often than would be >practical. > >The answer for now might be a shared device requiring little maintenance, in >a place sheltered from dust. And perhaps users could also store smart cards >or flash drives there. > >Solar powered devices would be nice, but you'd still have the problem of >dust, even more where the floor is earth - remember, there are cultural >reasons as well as economic reasons for dirt floors. So a place to store >your computing device would be important. > >And - these problems represent just one scenario and not even a complete >picture at that! What about local ethnic rivalries, for example, which we >have also run into, to our own astonishment? > >I think success is more likely when users have been given enough information >to help design their own solutions that will work for them and their >communities, and then have been given the support to do so. > >Taran, please let us know if you visit the Cunas, and what happens there >with the technology. > >Sandy > > > _______________________________________________ DIGITALDIVIDE mailing list [email protected] http://mailman.edc.org/mailman/listinfo/digitaldivide To unsubscribe, send a message to [EMAIL PROTECTED] with the word UNSUBSCRIBE in the body of the message. _______________________________________________ DIGITALDIVIDE mailing list [email protected] http://mailman.edc.org/mailman/listinfo/digitaldivide To unsubscribe, send a message to [EMAIL PROTECTED] with the word UNSUBSCRIBE in the body of the message.
