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WiFi Lifeline For Nepal's Farmers
bahree writes "BBC is running a pretty interesting story on how yak farmers in the mountains of Nepal, where there are no phones or other means of communication, are using wireless Internet technology to keep in touch with their families, buy/sell livestock and exchange vetinerary tips."
This is something that ought to be used in more locales than just Nepal - imagine how this can be put to good use in any underdeveloped nation. Solar-powered WiFi networks and computers, teaching reading and math, and even more advanced topics. Using freely downloaded and distributed learning materials, or learning materials created by teachers.
--I am Sun Tzu of the Borg. Resistance is feudal.
Sounds like these people are very remote. It makes me wonder how they are even getting power for their PCs and network gear. Solar? Generators?
It's amazing the good that has come out of the internet. This setup may even save someone's life at some point since these people can now "call" for help.
A common misconception is that farmers are low tech hillbillies. In the real world more the 70 percent of farms are "online". Farmers increasingly use databases of yeild / irrigation / fertilizer to optimize their operations. Same thing goes for ranchers, where the daily milk output of dairy cattle is tracked against the feed going in. When output drops over time, the cow is sold for prize beef (dairy cattle are held to a high standard).
I would even venture to say that there is a higher percentage of farms that are internet enabled then classical brick and mortar business
Just my 2 cents
Colin McNamara
Senior Network Engineer
Openwave Systems
"The difficult we do immediately, the impossible just takes a little longer"
High-tech technology is exactly what will help out these places. Simple example. Before the advent of mobile phones in India, there was a waiting list of upto 4 years to get a landline. This bred lots of courruption and black-marketeering. Even once you got a landline, you were at the mercy of the local linesman, who would disconnect your line if you didn't pay him his additional monthly salary (usually a bottle of cheap, local rum/scotch). Further, everytime it would rain, your line would go dead. That meant another bribe. Then one day they decided to launch mobile phone service in India.
Average time to get a mobile phone connection: 24 hours
Major Network outages (affecting more than one telecom circle - one circle is roughly the size of a city): ZERO
Look on linesman's face when he realizes HE's going have to chase after YOU to sell his shitty landline connection: Priceless
That's one example, since I'm into feeding the Trolls, here's another:
Electronic Voting in India, which has already been covered in slashdot.
Technology helps everybody, especially the poor. No you can't feed a honeless person a microchip, but I can promise you that it helps ensure that food reaches that person cheaper and faster than before.
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.. greatly improves the qualkity of life for these people.
..; people would kline up to use it .. now many have them and use it to talk to family (ask for money?), get medical help, and also get valuable information about supply demand .. as in you find out that someone is purchasing your crops and you take it directly to them ..saving you time/money/energy and reducing waste.
This solution is cheaper than farm equipment which also requires fuel (which is expensive).
This "hi-tech solution"
I am originally from a developing country and a lot of my family depend on farming. When the first cell phone was brought into the village
You have simply no idea how important improved communication is to quality of life.
Yeah, high tech like metal knives. A friend of mine went to Nepal and was treated like a god because he brought Swiss Army Knives as gifts. Metal mining is considered unclean and miners defile the earth, so miners are an untouchable caste. It should come as no surprise there is virtually no metals industry in Nepal. So even metal knives are relatively rare in Nepal, they have to import them, which is also pretty rare.
SO, are you getting the picture here? We're talking about a country where goat-herding is a high-tech dream job people aspire to. These people don't need high tech crap like computers, they need high tech crap like metal knives, electric lights, indoor plumbing, refrigerators, vitamins, etc.