On 5/26/05, Tshepo Thlaku <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > ...People would rather walk several kilometers to visit a relative and > talk face-to-face rather than chatting online. I have been working with the communities and organisations to encourage/stimulate use of ICTs. I know that people use the tools because: *they know how to use them *the tools are convenient *the tools serve a critical purpose effectively - they simplify life *the tools are affordable The use of cell-phones is not an accident. The technology embodies all the above and more. People would not just walk to talk to a relative several kilometres away if there was an effective, affordable and accessible means meeting the need.
We must appreciate that ICTs have not yet been appropriated in many spheres of life - education, health, business, governance. Therefore ICTs remain just tools whose purpose has not been largely defined in the current circumstance....we cannot blame a headmaster of a school who would rather buy flower gardens for the school compound than buy toner for the school lab printer. The job is not yet done _it's still the task to be accomplished_ by the "knowledgeable" info champions. Meddie ------------ This DOT-COM Discussion is funded by the dot-ORG USAID Cooperative Agreement, and hosted by GKD. http://www.dot-com-alliance.org provides more information. To post a message, send it to: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> To subscribe or unsubscribe, send a message to: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>. In the 1st line of the message type: subscribe gkd OR type: unsubscribe gkd For past messages, see: http://www.dot-com-alliance.org/archive.html
