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Providing Access to Info in Developing Countries
matt writes "Widernet is a program run at the University of Iowa to provide developing countries access to information. Most of the universities they work with (mainly in Nigeria) have no internet access or have a very expensive, limited one. So Widernet ships hard drives with a data dump of about 100G to place on the local network. Students have access through the eGranery. Some the of the problems they are dealing with are how to provide updates to the already distributed libraries, how to provide the eGranery such that it can be setup with little or no IT knowledge, and how to stretch a limited budget and donations. I sadly had to turn down an internship with them, but would still like to contribute. Surely we can help with time, resources, and/or knowledge." And you thought sneakernet was dead.
or thats what it seems, what about other developing countries that dont have access at all, surely they would be better served with project like this ?, dont get me wrong im all for charity (if you can call 120$ for a 120gig hard drive and $112 p&p charity) but Nigeria already has quite good network access, (judging by the amount of internet cafes and budding enterprise) perhaps we should let them develop with what they already have and concentrate on bringing computing and networks to those who are even less fortunate
120$ for a 120gig hard drive seems rather steep (and 75$ for a demo USB box) as this is more than a complete computer in the local classifieds, (not to mention a shitload of cash in developing countries) is this a charity or a commercial profit making venture ?
i always am suspicious when i see the face of a charity/good cause but then they charge for the service at above-cost especially when other companies are supplying their services for free)
cough*scam*cough ?
Give them info, and teach them to USE it. Having one without the other will just lead to a duplication of the situation we have here. Wired 100% of the time, unprecedented access to so much information... but still lead down a path of war by a bible bashing president and allowing our own government to turn over and beg for the RIAA, MPAA, ignoring our own rights at home AND those of prisoners of war overseas.
Information is one thing. Using it is something else entirely.
so much for charity egh when pricewatch want $64 for 120Gb EIDE drive, 100% markup seems rather greedy ?
120$ for 120gb HD
250$ just to set up a server ?
112$ for postage
75$ for USB drive case
be cheaper to buy them a brand new computer from wallmart than go with this deal, seems like this is a buisness venture aimed at cashing in on less fortunate people, but then thats what western companies do in Africa right ?
I hate that phrase. We are ALL in "developing countries", I hope - or we are screwed. The phrase sounds like the West has "finished developing" - which may be not be inaccurate as it drowns itself in a sea of intellectual "property" litigation, but I know I would like to see a guarantee of MY free access to information, as my fellow countrymen are doing their best to lock down that access and turn the country into a fascist police state that would have given Stalin wet dreams of joy.
Everytime something comes up about technology in developing countries someone or other posts something like this.
Guess what ? The Western world and lots of Asian countries didn't get those necessities by some nice person donating them a 100 gallon container of fresh water, some cheap pills and some old school books. They got there by educating their people to a point where they become able to take their fate into their own hands. To do this, you need more than just basic schooling, you need something a project like this might provide.
hmm.. . every time a post about the developing world comes up somebody asks "don't they need food and clean water first"? In some places yes (and basic schooling is still needed in some parts of USA and other developed countries as well by all accounts, what's the average reading age in your local low-income area?) but for many places basic needs are addressed and its higher level issues that have to be resolved.
Or even Firewire or USB or something...
Forget thrust, drag, lift and weight. Airplanes fly because of money.
It seems like they could spread the wealth a lot more widely if they just burned a bunch of CDs and sent them out. They could even send updates more quickly and easily than sending more disks.
Before the obvious comment comes back saying "but CD-ROM drives don't exist everywhere" please remember that CD-ROM drives became the standard way of distributing bulk data a few years before ATA controllers that can grok disks larger than 32G appeared. So I'm guessing that a computer in some remote area is at least as likely to have a CD drive as a controller that can take a huge disk.
Am I part of the core demographic for Swedish Fish?
Why does it have to be the western world that stands up to corrupt Nigerian leaders? Not that western leaders shouldn't stand up to them, but aren't the best people for this the Nigerian people? Maybe the best way to change the situation is to get Nigerian citiznes information about which of their leaders are screwing them over and what they can do about it.
Do we really want to sponsor more competition to our jobs?
Some other people see affairs in wider context as "Do we really want to sponsor american lifestyle?"
There you are, staring at me again.
I work on a similar project in Nicaragua. Optical drives are too fragile for the tropics/ third world. There usually isn't as clear a border between inside and outside as there is in north america.
In one case a CD drive failed 2 days after we installed it. Opened it up and it had an enormous spider laying eggs inside. High humidity also takes a toll & causes drives to stick. Since it takes a lot of energy to seal and air condition a room, we've switched to compact flash & hard drives for everything.
I am getting real tired of hearing about 'bringing technology to the underpriv's of the world' - guess what : Nigeria's problems are not going to be solved via the Internet.
Countries do not evolve, grow, or progress because an extra 2% of them get dial up access to the Internet. Countries evolve, grow, and progress because every single person in the country gets involved and does some work. Look at the conditions of America circa 1650 or 1800. Those poor fuckers worked 16 hours a day to build farms, homes, roads, schools, infrastructure and the best technology they had access to was the sailboat, the wheel, and the beast of burden. If they wanted a second copy of a text file they had to write it out by hand using a bird's feather dipped in a little glass of ink, scratching it on a piece of paper. If they planned on eating they got out in the field with wooden tools and dug up the ground and planted seeds, chased off birds and rodents from their crops, and watered them by pumping water out of the ground with a hand pump. They spun wool and cotton into threads, wove those threads into cloth, cut the cloth into patterns and using a sewing needle and thread made clothes, and they washed their clothes in the river. They mixed mud and rock to make bricks, fired them in an oven, and build their homes one brick at a time. They took straw and bundled it together and if the floor in their homes got dirty, they swept it outside. They took pride in who they were, they worked their asses off, and they became who America became. Without the Internet.
Yea it's hard. Anything worth while is hard. You can't give a country 'civilization'. They have to EARN it.
BTW pangian - I wasn't reacting harshly at you directly, your post simply gave me a good anchor point.
Glonoinha the MebiByte Slayer