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Searching Google, Where Internet Access is Scarce

Internet searching means that finding information mundane, obscure, or fantastically useful is just a few keystrokes away — but not if you're without a connection to the Internet (or can't read), both the norm for many of the world's poor. itwbennett writes "Rose Shuman developed a contraption for this under-served population called Question Box that is essentially a one-step-removed Internet search: 'A villager presses a call button on a physical intercom device, located in their village, which connects them to a trained operator in a nearby town who's sitting in front of a computer attached to the Internet. A question is asked. While the questioner holds, the operator looks up the answer on the Internet and reads it back. All questions and answers are logged. For the villager there is no keyboard to deal with. No complex technology. No literacy issues.' This week, Jon Gosier, of Appfrica, launched a web site called World Wants to Know that displays the QuestionBox questions being asked in real time. As Jon put it, it's allowing 'searching where Google can't.' And providing remarkable insight into the real information needs of off-the-grid populations."

2 of 130 comments (clear)

  1. What if I asked by American+Terrorist · · Score: 0, Offtopic

    How much wood would a wood-chuck chuck if a wood-chuck could chuck wood?

  2. Re:The problem is African IQ. by Arimus · · Score: 0, Offtopic

    What are you smoking?

    ...Quantum physics gave us nuclear power plants, the cleanest source of energy in the world.

    WTF? Care to explain that to people affected by Three mile Island, Selafield/Windscale, Chernoybl?

    Nuclear fission will never be a clean source of engery are there is always going to be radioactive waste produced.

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