---------- Forwarded message ---------- From: Geert Lovink Date: Mar 8, 2007 6:41 AM Subject: <incom> Trebor Scholz: The digital divide is not what it used to be
http://www.collectivate.net/journalisms/2007/3/7/the-digital-divide-is-not-what-it-used-to-be.html The digital divide is not what it used to be In this video cast of yesterday's lecture I provide an introduction to the (mobile) Internet in China, Iran, India, the United Arab Emirates, and Africa. How are cell phones used in Africa? Will English-language content dominate the web, net much longer? What are some of the main websites of the Chinese Internet? Why do we talk of an "alternative" Internet in China? Is the phenomenon of user-generated content a global occurrence? Is the created content mostly local or does it have international references (i.e. the infamous Chinese Backstreet Boys video)? Which countries are the worse enemies of the Internet? What is in the way of worldwide access to knowledge? What do you know about the One Laptop Per (Poor) Child Initiative? (Is not the concept that technology can fix social problems problematic?) How do non-profit organizations working in developing countries address issues such as Africa's focus on oral cultures? Which countries pioneer the use of open source software? In the end of this 31 minute long lecture I point to some weblogs, books, videos, and podcasts that deal with the mobile Internet in developing countries. (To watch the video cast, download this 11 MB ".m4b" file and then open it in QuickTime, resize. Turn your sound on, please.) --- A few days earlier Trebor Scholz posted the following related mail to his iDC list: From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Subject: [iDC] Cell phones in developing countries Date: 1 January 2034 4:10:05 AM To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] The growth of cell phone use in Africa is indeed explosive: the lack of an extensive landline telephony infrastructure makes mobile phones a good alternative. But consider this: In 2006, the Washington Post published an article showing that "worldwide, there are more than 2.4 billion cell phone users... and [a]bout 59 percent of these users are in developing countries, making cell phones the first telecommunications technology in history to have more users there than in the developed world." [1] Cell phone usage in Africa, the article continued, is growing faster than in any other region and jumped from 63 million users two years ago to about 152 million. This is not some kind of mobile business evangelism: life in Africa is changed drastically for those with access. Africa is in the grip of a mobile phone revolution. "The number of mobile phone lines in Africa rose from 15.6 to 135 million between 2000 and 2005" OhmyNews reported how women in South Africa fight for their human rights with cell phones. [2] This report continued: "In a culture where people travel long distances to find work, the mobile has become the most useful and ubiquitous piece of technology since the bicycle. Just as bicycles are used in rural Africa to transport bananas or paying passengers, the mobile is changing lives in ways unimagined in the developed world. It links distant families and allows the poor to communicate." References: [1] http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/07/08/ AR2006070801063.html [2] http://english.ohmynews.com/articleview/article_view.asp? no=339544&rel_no=1 Further Reading: Talk is cheap, and getting cheaper http://www.guardian.co.uk/hearafrica05/story/0,15756,1569470,00.html How mobile phones might revolutionize agriculture in West Africa http://www.ethanzuckerman.com/blog/?p=1215 Wind and sun powered base station powers up in Africa http://www.theregister.co.uk/2007/02/14/moto_green_gsm_cell/ For Africa, a godsend in cellphones http://rasa.iht.com/articles/2005/08/24/business/africatel.php From Matatu to the Masai via mobile http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/technology/6241603.stm Podcasts: The Future of Africa, part 1 http://cdn.itconversations.com/ITC.PopTech2005-FutureOfAfrica.1 -2005.10.23.mp3 The Future of Africa, part 2 http://cdn.itconversations.com/ITC.PopTech2005-FutureOfAfrica.2 -2005.10.23.mp3 _______________________________________________ iDC -- mailing list of the Institute for Distributed Creativity (distributedcreativity.org) [EMAIL PROTECTED] http://mailman.thing.net/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/idc List Archive: http://mailman.thing.net/pipermail/idc/ iDC Photo Stream: http://www.flickr.com/photos/tags/idcnetwork/ _______________________________________________ incom-l mailing list [EMAIL PROTECTED] http://mail.kein.org/mailman/listinfo/incom-l -- FelipeFonseca http://pub.metareciclagem.org http://blogs.metareciclagem.org/fff http://culturadigital.org.br http://descentro.org _______________________________________________ Lista de discussão da MetaReciclagem Envie mensagens para [email protected] http://lista.metareciclagem.org
