Disclaimer:India is too vast (and diverse) a country to comment upon in a general sense. The contrast is too much for many people to digest. If you come to one of the larger cities (like Bangalore), you see lots of Hoardings advertising popular Indian websites like rediff.com, sharekhan.com etc. Whereas if you go to some of the rural background, I wonder whether how many people will understand the word "Internet". In the larger cities there are plenty of "Cyber-Cafes" and most of the Internet usage is through these Cyber-Cafes. One interesting (social??) point in this regard is that in India because of the shared use of computers, the actual number of Internet users is much more than the number of Internet connections (1 cafe may have only 1 connection, but with 5-10 PCs connected behind a Proxy Server). On the social aspect: There are states in India which are rapidly progressing with respect to Internet usage (e.g. Andhra Pradesh with its IT crazy Chief Minister). I have recently read in the media abt the Internet being used to check the status of pensions etc in rural villages etc -- So that means that directly or indirectly the Internet is making life easier for the urban folks who were till now living a totally different life than in the big cities. Another issue worth a mention is that Email is a big hit considering the high cost of International telephony. What is different from other countries probably is the less number of Home PCs for net usage. The reasons for this can be: 1. Local calls are charged per 3mins in most cities -- This works out expensive. 2. I wouldn't say the ISP are the cheapest 3. Cost of a PC for an average Indian etc....Another issue to be mentioned with respect to a line in the original/. posting "... actually starting an ISP in these places would be difficult technologically....". I don't think that (atleast in India) technology is the problem. The problem is more with licenses for ISPs, cost, other controls etc.
Slashdot Mirror
Disclaimer: India is too vast (and diverse) a country to comment upon in a general sense. The contrast is too much for many people to digest. If you come to one of the larger cities (like Bangalore), you see lots of Hoardings advertising popular Indian websites like rediff.com, sharekhan.com etc. Whereas if you go to some of the rural background, I wonder whether how many people will understand the word "Internet". In the larger cities there are plenty of "Cyber-Cafes" and most of the Internet usage is through these Cyber-Cafes. One interesting (social??) point in this regard is that in India because of the shared use of computers, the actual number of Internet users is much more than the number of Internet connections (1 cafe may have only 1 connection, but with 5-10 PCs connected behind a Proxy Server). On the social aspect: There are states in India which are rapidly progressing with respect to Internet usage (e.g. Andhra Pradesh with its IT crazy Chief Minister). I have recently read in the media abt the Internet being used to check the status of pensions etc in rural villages etc -- So that means that directly or indirectly the Internet is making life easier for the urban folks who were till now living a totally different life than in the big cities. Another issue worth a mention is that Email is a big hit considering the high cost of International telephony. What is different from other countries probably is the less number of Home PCs for net usage. The reasons for this can be: 1. Local calls are charged per 3mins in most cities -- This works out expensive. 2. I wouldn't say the ISP are the cheapest 3. Cost of a PC for an average Indian etc... .Another issue to be mentioned with respect to a line in the original /. posting "... actually starting an ISP in these places would be difficult technologically....". I don't think that (atleast in India) technology is the problem. The problem is more with licenses for ISPs, cost, other controls etc.