On 12/01/2008, Murli Nagasundaram <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:
> Michael, while that story sadly turned out to be an urban myth ("if it
> sounds too good to be true, it probably isn't") there are numerous
> instances of resourcefulness one encounters as one wanders about in
> poor societies where people survive, if not thrive, in the most
> challenging circumstances -- and here's the incredible part: with
> their humanity intact; and indeed remaining more human and humane than
> many if not most people one encounters in cities. I have been shamed
> many times by the generosity I have encountered among people that many
> consider poor.
>
> - The micro-banking revolution began in Bangladesh
> - villagers in the Indian subcontinent often build their own satellite
> dishes out of scrap metal they find on the roadside
> - An entire class of students gets through school sharing a single
> textbook per subject; they end up with far sharper memories
> - The humble streetlamp is the venue for many a night class
This is very true. Having less things doesnt mean you don't learn less
or have a poorer quality of life.
What I find saddening about the whole Tata thing is that this could
have been a great chance to introduce an electric vehicle, or even a
hydrogen one, one that was cheap to look after and run based upon the
use of solar energy. That would have been a world changing concept.
In Puru I noticed that all the outlaying villages and those floating
on lake Titicaca use solar power above any other source (partly down
to a scheme to allow them to pay for the cells in installments).
Solar power remains the most promising technology for developing
nations and it's good to see it being adopted.
Now we just need cheap light batteries or a way to store hydrogen
created via the use of solar energy and then developing nations can
avoid the whole dependency on petrol thing and skip the mistakes of
developed nations.
So, anyway.
To directly relate this to software / site design it's about working
out what is the mininmum you need for the job and being ruthless with
the pruning of needless functionality (yes I know it's a bit of a
stretch). I've been using Vista for about a week now and can happily
live without it graphical sparkle. I hoping gradients on everything is
a phase everyone is going through - we don't need things like that do
we? My first computer had 48k memory (yes k, not m or g) yet I had
loads of fun playing games with it, wrote programmes and even wrote an
essay using it.
Okay maybe a thin link to the much more worthy topic of the ability
for people to be resourcefull giving limited resources and be
potenitaly as happy as those with endless resources.
Stew Dean
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