tom abeles wrote:
And the price for the units are coming down so that OLPC and the
current smart phones will meet in the middle- not at the desired USD
100. So we should stop, now, using the term, $100 lap top. I believe
current suggested price will be closer to $200 than $100 and even more
in inflation adjusted dollars.
Agree with the 'options are better' comments - just kicking in here that
the minimum order of a million is really the issue for me. Plus, if we
consider the shifts in the global economy - is $100 US really a good
target? How about let's try for 'affordable'... what I mean is that cost
of living, etc, plus the relative value of the US dollar may increase or
decrease. Since the machine(s) themselves aren't necessarily made in the
US, this really makes this an interesting thing to look at economically.
But, and this is a big BUT, no one talks about the cost of access, the
main reason that the wireless providers practically give away their
phones. The connection costs are coming down, but they are constant
even if one owns the machines. And then there is the question of
service and support. This part of the package is never discussed and
yet it is the major life cycle expense to having one of these devices
and using them to greatest benefit.
Perhaps it is time to stop slavering over the non-existent device and
its purported cure for the digital divide, like some miracle drug
and look at the systems cost and see who has worked that into their
development budgets.
thoughts?
I'm of two minds on all of this. Mobile phones have become more
ubiquitous than Microsoft ever was (or ever will be). But mobile phones
are not the solution either - access to hardware, except in very extreme
cases, exists. This leads back to policy and infrastructure, which is
where there have always been problems that have reinforced the hardware
access problem. Now it is about service.
So yes, the mobile phone has and will continue to demonstrate the most
promise for leveling technological access. But no, it will not change
service level disparity. One reason is economics, which can be fixed -
some say it already is being fixed. But policy. Policy.
Telecommunications service. A bunch of other stuff that technology
hasn't been able to fix for the last millenium. :-)
--
Taran Rampersad
Presently in: San Fernando, Trinidad and Tobago
[EMAIL PROTECTED]
http://www.knowprose.com
Pictures: http://www.flickr.com/photos/knowprose/
Criticize by creating. — Michelangelo
The present is theirs; the future, for which I really worked, is mine. -
Nikola Tesla
___
DIGITALDIVIDE mailing list
DIGITALDIVIDE@digitaldivide.net
http://digitaldivide.net/mailman/listinfo/digitaldivide
To unsubscribe, send a message to [EMAIL PROTECTED] with the word UNSUBSCRIBE
in the body of the message.
