Happy New Year!! <br><br>I've been watching this list for ages, and I've finally felt like I should contribute my perspective. I've put a short introduction at the bottom of this letter.<br><br>So I've been living in India since June, and I've got to say, things can seem pretty messy.
Poverty is so common, so pervasive, so intrusive, that all one can do
is blind one's self to it. How can I pass so many lepers, amputees,
bloated-belly naked children, and homeless families in one day, if I
don't blind myself to misery? (Jesus christ, it really is crazy) <br><br> <a href="http://www.economist.com/world/asia/displaystory.cfm?story_id=9643312">The Indian government reports (via economist) </a>that 77% of the
country lives on less than 20 Rupees per day (55 cents). Holy crap. This in a country with more billionaires than Japan!
Wealth and poverty live side by side in Bombay, perhaps more starkly
than anywhere in the world. This all disturbs me. So maybe it is out of a disturbed mind, but let me share a few things that make sense to me now, against the odds:<br>
<b><br>1. Video games and online social networks can be of immense educational
value, albeit indirectly.</b> The reason for this is the proximal value of
internet access and computer literacy. A 'killer application' (with
network effects) like social networks or online multi-player video
games could dramatically boost demand for internet access in India (which is currently dreadfully low!),
resulting in the rapid growth of computer literacy, which might just be more useful for social mobility and on-the-job performance than
a high school education. <br>
<br>
China is providing a nice model, where the market for online games has
shot from 50 million US$ to 1 $bn in about 6 years. This seems to have
massively increased demand for computers and internet access among the
lower-middle classes, resulting in a massive growth of technical
literacy in those groups. Since I believe that internet/computer
literacy the best route to increased economic opportunities in the
developing world, you'll understand why I think kids playing cricket
would be better off playing games online. Which I admit sounds a bit crazy.<br><br>Here is a lovely
piece of evidence that modern technologies can have a positive social
impact: a recent study by Robert Jensen and Emily Oster on the impact
of TV hours on social attitudes towards women and the education rates
of young girls. <a href="http://papers.nber.org/papers/w13305">http://papers.nber.org/papers/w13305</a> This paper is, I think, very important. You can read a review in Slate here: <a href="http://www.slate.com/id/2172474/">
How TV is empowering the women of India</a><br>
<br>
<b>2. Most people in the world will first encounter
a "computer" and "internet access" in the form of a mobile phone with a
data connection.</b> So again, if we believe that computer/internet access
is important to economic and social advancement, we can't just think
about the traditional form factor of PCs and laptops. I love the OLPC,
but at the same time, I have to feel that mobile phones are an existing
infrastructure that also (desperately!) needs "good content" to promote
development goals.<br>
<br>
As you may know, India is the fastest growing mobile market in the
world, with over 8 million new users per month. As you travel through
the cities and the rural areas, it is astounding to see so many
(relatively) impoverished people using mobile phones. If you made less
than $100 a month, it might seem unaffordable. But the massive
competition among mobile phone corporations has resulted in incredibly
cheap phones (as low as $19 for a new phone) and services (1 cent per
minute is not uncommon). <br>
<br>
Mobile telephony relies on an invisible infrastructure that now reaches
most people on the planet, literally providing a direct connection
between the most remote villages and every major market in the world.
This has brought significant economic
AND social improvements, and many more will follow. Fisherman make more money, rickshaw
drivers make more money, farmers make more money, and family members
can travel to cities and make money (even without breaking regular
communication with the traditional family unit). But it also
increases the ties between people, making it easier to meet friends,
stay in touch, and maintain social capital. These values are harder to
measure, I know, but people really do seem to love their phones for a
good reason. There is a lot more to say, but I'll hold off... But check my occasionally updated blog at <a href="http://www.revolv.in/">www.revolv.in</a> for some more pictures and stats.<br><br>
<b>3. The design and marketing of appropriate technologies is the most
sustainable and effective route for promoting social development. </b><br>I
truly believe that mobile phones are significantly contributing to development
in India, even though this is an industry entirely run on
profit. Nokia is not giving away phones and vodaphone is not giving
away service. But they are designing it to fit the needs of the
people, giving people the ability to improvise all number of uses of the phones
to improve the state of their lives. The more phones sold, the more profit made, the more people benefited. This is a highly sustainable model, no? (Yay capitalism!) We can certainly start our designs with a social need, figure out a product
that best addresses this need, then design the product to be as desirable,
useful and profitable as possible. I think this brings the greatest impact. There are lots of middle class Indian's who could afford a $180 laptop, so is OLPC marketing this right?<br>
<br>
As a caveat, I should mention that there is certainly evidence that <a href="http://www.springerlink.com/content/b41h16111r7258xg/">mobile phones can slow development</a> (and many other examples of technology just *ruining* societies..),
but perhaps all the more reason to emphasize that <i>design details</i> can
have a significant effect on the social utilization of any technology. So this aspect of Social Design might be important to teach at more of our universities, no? <br><br><br><b>Introduction: </b> <br>I am a graduate student and MFA candidate at UC San Diego, studying social design and relational aesthetics. I received my undergraduate degree in Cognitive Science from Yale University. I have
been living and working in Bombay, India since June, working on an internship "Mobile Phone as First Computer," for
Qualcomm. <br><br>If everything goes well, I'll be teaching a course remotely from India to students in San Diego this winter: <i>"Developing Technology for Developing Economies"</i> <a href="http://www.design4dev.com">
www.design4dev.com</a> <br>Feedback is welcomed.<br><br><br>Back to Goa madness.... 15 minutes to go... Happy New Year! <br><br><br>Derek Lomas<br><br>+91 98 2021 4917<br><br><br><div class="gmail_quote">On Dec 30, 2007 9:47 PM, Fatima Lasay <
<a href="mailto:digiteer@ispx.com.ph">digiteer@ispx.com.ph</a>> wrote:<br><blockquote class="gmail_quote" style="border-left: 1px solid rgb(204, 204, 204); margin: 0pt 0pt 0pt 0.8ex; padding-left: 1ex;">Negroponte and co. are pushing dangerous drugs in 'third world countries.'
<br><br>Microsoft Windows XP for the '$100 laptop' already nears testing phase and<br>will be pushed to kids in our countries<br>(<a href="http://www.gmanews.tv/story/71789/Microsoft-Windows-XP-for-the-100-laptop-nears-testing-phase" target="_blank">
http://www.gmanews.tv/story/71789/Microsoft-Windows-XP-for-the-100-laptop-nears-testing-phase</a>).<br><br>And soon our kids will have even broader access to decadent Internet social<br>networks as online video games are integrated in social networking tools
<br>(<a href="http://www.gmanews.tv/story/69824/Online-video-games-meet-social-networking-tools" target="_blank">http://www.gmanews.tv/story/69824/Online-video-games-meet-social-networking-tools</a>)<br><br>Negroponte and co. are making it harder for us our struggle and efforts to
<br>become truly independent economically, technologicaally, culturally from<br>the horrendous culture of Amerika.<br><br><br>Regards,<br><font color="#888888">Fatima<br></font><div><div></div><div class="Wj3C7c"><br><br>
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