On Sun, May 31, 2009 at 9:08 PM, Thomas Dalton <thomas.dal...@gmail.com>wrote:
> 2009/6/1 Anthony <wikim...@inbox.org>: > > On Sun, May 31, 2009 at 7:17 PM, Thomas Dalton <thomas.dal...@gmail.com > >wrote: > > > >> I guess I'm so used to broadband I forgot about the > >> existence of dial up for a second! You would need to hand out phones, > >> laptops, and network subscriptions, though - that's getting rather > >> expensive just to give someone an up-to-date encyclopaedia. > > > > > > I guess I'm forgetting how cheap labor is in so many parts of the world. > > Here in the US we're talking about less than a week's work, but in an > Indian > > call center we're talking about over a month. > > People working in Indian call centres probably already have internet > access, or at least can access the internet somewhere (in a internet > cafe, or something). They are generally quite highly educated (I > believe many even have degrees, but can make more money in a call > centre working for a foreign company than using their degree working > for an Indian company). For people in rural areas, there is no way > they could ever afford these things themselves, many have a > subsistence lifestyle, there is no possibility to save up for stuff. The educated people in rural areas generally get themselves out. If someone voluntarily chooses to live a subsistence lifestyle, there's no point in providing them with a free copy of Wikipedia in the first place. But still, over a month's salary is pretty steep, considering that there's no guarantee it'll help. I guess for now it's better to focus on providing access in schools and libraries. _______________________________________________ foundation-l mailing list foundation-l@lists.wikimedia.org Unsubscribe: https://lists.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/foundation-l