<incom> Trebor Scholz: The digital divide is not what it used to be

[Geert Lovink]

http://www.collectivate.net/journalisms/2007/3/7/the-digital-divide-is- 
not-what-it-used-to-be.html

The digital divide is not what it used to be

In this video cast of yesterday's lecture I provide an introduction to  
the (mobile) Internet in China, Iran, India, the United Arab Emirates,  
and Africa. How are cell phones used in Africa? Will English-language  
content dominate the web, net much longer? What are some of the main  
websites of the Chinese Internet? Why do we talk of an "alternative"  
Internet in China? Is the phenomenon of user-generated content a global  
occurrence? Is the created content mostly local or does it have  
international references (i.e. the infamous Chinese Backstreet Boys  
video)? Which countries are the worse enemies of the Internet? What is  
in the way of worldwide access to knowledge?  What do you know about  
the One Laptop Per (Poor) Child Initiative? (Is not the concept that  
technology can fix social problems problematic?) How do non-profit  
organizations working in developing countries address issues such as  
Africa's focus on oral cultures? Which countries pioneer the use of  
open source software?

In the end of this 31 minute long lecture I point to some weblogs,  
books, videos, and podcasts that deal with the mobile Internet in  
developing countries.

(To watch the video cast, download this 11 MB “.m4b” file and then open  
it in QuickTime, resize. Turn your sound on, please.)

---

A few days earlier Trebor Scholz posted the following related mail to  
his iDC list:

	From: 	  trebor at thing.net
	Subject: 	[iDC] Cell phones in developing countries
	Date: 	1 January 2034 4:10:05 AM
	To: 	  idc at bbs.thing.net

The growth of cell phone use in Africa is indeed explosive: the lack of  
an extensive landline telephony infrastructure makes mobile phones a  
good alternative. But consider this: In 2006, the Washington Post  
published an article showing that "worldwide, there are more than 2.4  
billion cell phone users... and [a]bout 59 percent of these users are  
in developing countries, making cell phones the first  
telecommunications technology in history to have more users there than  
in
the developed world." [1] Cell phone usage in Africa, the article  
continued, is growing faster than in any other region and jumped from  
63 million users two years ago to about 152 million. This is not some  
kind of mobile business evangelism: life in Africa is changed  
drastically for those with access.

Africa is in the grip of a mobile phone revolution. "The number of  
mobile phone lines in Africa rose from 15.6 to 135 million between 2000  
and 2005" OhmyNews reported how women in South Africa fight for their  
human rights with cell phones. [2] This report continued: “In a culture  
where people travel long distances to find work, the mobile has become  
the most useful and ubiquitous piece of technology since the bicycle.  
Just as bicycles are used in rural Africa to transport bananas or  
paying passengers, the mobile is changing lives in ways unimagined in  
the developed world. It links distant families and allows
the poor to communicate.”

References:

[1]  
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/07/08/ 
AR2006070801063.html

[2]  
http://english.ohmynews.com/articleview/article_view.asp? 
no=339544&rel_no=1

Further Reading:

Talk is cheap, and getting cheaper
http://www.guardian.co.uk/hearafrica05/story/0,15756,1569470,00.html

How mobile phones might revolutionize agriculture in West Africa
http://www.ethanzuckerman.com/blog/?p=1215

Wind and sun powered base station powers up in Africa
http://www.theregister.co.uk/2007/02/14/moto_green_gsm_cell/

  For Africa, a godsend in cellphones
http://rasa.iht.com/articles/2005/08/24/business/africatel.php

 From Matatu to the Masai via mobile
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/technology/6241603.stm


Podcasts:

The Future of Africa, part 1
http://cdn.itconversations.com/ITC.PopTech2005-FutureOfAfrica.1 
-2005.10.23.mp3

The Future of Africa, part 2
http://cdn.itconversations.com/ITC.PopTech2005-FutureOfAfrica.2 
-2005.10.23.mp3

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