Yes. We must recognize that many poor people will not have reliable electricity. We can build solar capabilities easily into computers, and it has been done. Oddly, none of the cheap computer proposals (simputer, pctv from Carnegie Mellon, or the MIT computer design) have solar power as an option.
More generally, Adlite, I agree that it is critical to have something very useful to use on these machines. Current Internet content is completely inadequate for the needs of most of these people now living in poverty. Health and education are good beginning possibilities, but it is not happening so far. Nor as far as I can see is anyone now making the effort to generate a critical mass of such material, in all the languages needed. . We should not invest in hardware for the poor until we have a sizable body of valuable material that meets their needs Alfred Bork University of California, Irvine. -----Original Message----- From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] On Behalf Of Adite Chatterjee Sent: Monday, May 02, 2005 8:35 PM To: The Digital Divide Network discussion group Subject: Re: [DDN] BBC story about the Divide -- in India Interesting story and not very new.. There are a few issues though: one's not disputing that computers are if not as necessary as clean drinking water and health centres, important as well....but what after the novelty factor of the computer has gone down. What happens after power outages, irregular maintenance and simply the daily grind of making a living makes the computer just another unused item. Journalists rarely go back to write stories about that...There are other stories that are not being covered by the world media. For instance how the Internet is being used to make women self-sufficient in villages in Tamil Nadu... It's not just about technology for the sake of it, but using it to benefit people to make a living. Ultimately that's the model that needs to be developed to bridge the digital divide. Adite Chatterjee On 5/2/05, Steven Wagenseil <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > Another very useful and interesting story reported by > the BBC (One of heir editors must have awakened to the > issue recently.) > > Check it out > http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/4498511.stm > > Steve > _______________________________________________ > 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. > -- Adite Chatterjee www.icfdc.com _______________________________________________ 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.
