Have you ever tried it? Just give it a try - unplug for a while (no phone, no tv, no internet, sporadic newspapers, if any, only check postal mail once a week or so). Now - hope that you don't need an ambulance, or to get news about your mother passing away, or information about that war thing going on.
I'm not saying that every house should have broadband and cellphones. (Hell, I don't have a cellphone and I barely use the phone.) But, the fact that I can pick up the phone and call 911 if I need to means a lot to me. And, it's awfully nice that if a storm is coming that I generally know about it before I'm in danger. We're pretty lucky not to have to worry about disease epidemics most of the time, but being able to notify people about vaccine clinics in a timely manner could save a lot of lives in a lot of parts of Africa. There are a lot of really basic uses for telecommunications that simply aren't available in many parts of developing countries. The thing that you might not get is that, at least in my experience, it's not like these folks live in a time warp ala that last M Shamylan movie. They _know_ what they're missing and desperatley want aspects of it. They're already struggling with balancing traditional aspects of their culture with more Western ideologies. It's a complex life already. Who are we to tell them that they should be happy with what they already have? On 6/14/05, Matthew Small <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > I don't think I'm being condescending at all. I wish that I could live in a > time when life wasn't so rushed, so connected, so in-your-face. I think > it's an arrogant attitude that makes technologically advanced cultures > believe that technology automatically makes life better. > > > Matthew Small > Web Developer > American City Business Journals > 704-973-1045 > [EMAIL PROTECTED] > > > -----Original Message----- > From: Deanna Schneider [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] > Sent: Tuesday, June 14, 2005 9:12 AM > To: CF-Community > Subject: Re: Bringing Internet (and VoIP) to Uganda > > On the contrary - there, just like here, people benefit from computer > skills and access. When I was in Nigeria in 1993, one of my friends > there was making a living working on people's computers for them. (He > later got a job in Canada because of those skills.) People wanted to > be able to communicate, and there were phones - but they were > unreliable and difficult to use (invariably, only one of the two > people could hear at any one time). It's very condescending to think > that people don't want to be in touch with the world around them, > simply because they live in a developing country. The idea that they > live in a "simple culture" is just uninformed. Much of Africa already > has blended culture. Years of missionary work took its toll long ago. > > On 6/14/05, Matthew Small <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > > I don't think that that phone, computer and Internet improve lives > > dramatically. It sounds like the beginning of the end for their simple > > culture. > > > > Matthew Small > > Web Developer > > American City Business Journals > > 704-973-1045 > > [EMAIL PROTECTED] > > > > > > -----Original Message----- > > From: C. Hatton Humphrey [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] > > Sent: Tuesday, June 14, 2005 8:46 AM > > To: CF-Community > > Subject: Bringing Internet (and VoIP) to Uganda > > > > Quite an interesting little project these folks have going on. > > > > http://www.inveneo.org/?q=uganda > > > > At 11:10am PST on June 8th, with a VoIP phone call from the Community > > Knowledge Center to the village of Nyamiryango, Inveneo's first solar > > and pedal powered communications system went live in the Bukuuku > > sub-county, Kabarole district of Western Uganda. This successful > > deployment was completed in partnership with ActionAid, and enables > > villagers to use a phone, computer and the Internet for the first time > > ever, empowering them to use communications and technology to improve > > their lives dramatically. > > > > > > > > > > > > ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~| Find out how CFTicket can increase your company's customer support efficiency by 100% http://www.houseoffusion.com/banners/view.cfm?bannerid=49 Message: http://www.houseoffusion.com/lists.cfm/link=i:5:160735 Archives: http://www.houseoffusion.com/cf_lists/threads.cfm/5 Subscription: http://www.houseoffusion.com/lists.cfm/link=s:5 Unsubscribe: http://www.houseoffusion.com/cf_lists/unsubscribe.cfm?user=11502.10531.5 Donations & Support: http://www.houseoffusion.com/tiny.cfm/54
