SOUNDING BOARD is an outlet for opinions on good and crazy things going on at home (wherever I may be). All are welcome. You are not expected to bring anything except your common sense & sense of humor.
'If the automobile had followed the same development cycle as the computer, a Rolls-Royce would today cost $100, get one million miles to the gallon, and explode once a year, killing everyone inside.'
-Robert X. Cringely (from geek wisdom)
SOUNDING BOARD
Monday, September 30, 2002
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Mobile technology for poverty alleviation
This article reminds me of grameen phone - a completely revolutionary poverty alleviation/microcredit scheme that revolves around mobile phone use, started by Iqbal Quadir in Bangladesh. Not that it presents something like the grameen phone in scope, but it says "developing countries are taking up next generation technologies". And somehow, I am still searching for a reading material that discusses in details how new technologies can benefit the poor as well as provide profits to private business - aside from grameen phone. Well ok, since I'm on the grameen phone topic, 2 things puzzle me on this grameen phone: (1) is it only efficient and effective whe linked with microcredit schemes?; and (2) does it work only in areas where there is no (or less) competition with respect to mobile coverage? Hmmm...
posted by Allan at 8:45 PM (GMT+8)
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