My prediction is that all attempts at selling what most people would consider inferior computers will not work. Not in India nor in any other developing country.
What many people from rich countries do not realize, is that people in countries like India have a different set of priorities. If you go to any slum you will notice that even though housing is terrible, plumbing is non-existent, and garbage is strewn everywhere, many people own televisions, refrigerators, radios, cell phones, etc.
I don't see any reason why computer ownership will be an exception to the rule. Poor people will want their kids to have the same computers as rich people do (perhaps with less RAM, smaller monitor, etc), and will not be interested in buying a computer designed for the poor.
One more note... a lot of statistics about computer users in developing countries are very misleading. For example, the CIA claims that there are about 18.4 million Internet users in India, but if you travel to any Indian city you will see Internet cafes everywhere, all crowded with people. There may be 18.4 million subscribers to Internet services, but the actual number of individuals with Hotmail/Yahoo/Rediff accounts is probably a lot higher, perhaps even 10 times higher.
China's rate of growth for all Internet users is probably a whole lot higher than the US. The US market is already saturated, while China is just getting started. Check the chart for total number of Internet users (CIA data)
Source:Executive Office of the President of the United States - Office of Management and Budget
What if browsers changed the way cookies work?
on
The Eroded Self
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· Score: 1
If browsers had an option that only enabled cookies sent by the specific site you were visiting, all DoubleClick-like profile acquisition techniques would collapse, while preserving the usefulness of cookies for things like storing shopping cart info, site-specific preferences, etc. The only option that current browsers give you is to enable/disable ALL cookies, which is simply not a good option. Yes, you can configure IE to handle security on a case-by-case basis, but setting that up for each individual site is not practical. Maybe Mozilla will be more flexible?
I became a customer of CI Host in July of 1998. Immediately after uploading my pages to their server, I started experiencing problems. My calls and emails to customer service were never answered promptly, so after 3 or 4 months I decided to switch providers.
As soon as CI Host found out I was switching, they deleted all my data, without further explanation. Attempts to recover data that I had not yet moved to my new provider were completely unsuccessful. I found out that their claims about having redundant systems and frequent backups were not true.
Anyway, I thought that was the end of my worst experience with a hosting provider. I closed my account with them, hoping to forget the whole thing. Two months later (February of 1999), CI Host charged my credit card as if I were still a customer. Once again, my many calls and emails were never answered. Finally, after I tried to reach the CEO several times, they admitted their mistake and issued a refund in May of 1999 (they even gave me a copy of the refund slip).
To my utter disbelief, the refund never reached my credit card company. To this date I'm still trying to get my money back. CI Host never answers my calls, and takes about a month and a half to answer any email I send them (my contact there is Edith "I'm not allowed to give you my last name").
After dealing with about 10 different hosting providers over the years, I found CI Host to be the worst ever. If you want to save yourself months of frustration, financial losses, fraudulent charges, etc.
Slashdot Mirror
My prediction is that all attempts at selling what most people would consider inferior computers will not work. Not in India nor in any other developing country.
What many people from rich countries do not realize, is that people in countries like India have a different set of priorities. If you go to any slum you will notice that even though housing is terrible, plumbing is non-existent, and garbage is strewn everywhere, many people own televisions, refrigerators, radios, cell phones, etc.
I don't see any reason why computer ownership will be an exception to the rule. Poor people will want their kids to have the same computers as rich people do (perhaps with less RAM, smaller monitor, etc), and will not be interested in buying a computer designed for the poor.
One more note... a lot of statistics about computer users in developing countries are very misleading. For example, the CIA claims that there are about 18.4 million Internet users in India, but if you travel to any Indian city you will see Internet cafes everywhere, all crowded with people. There may be 18.4 million subscribers to Internet services, but the actual number of individuals with Hotmail/Yahoo/Rediff accounts is probably a lot higher, perhaps even 10 times higher.
China's rate of growth for all Internet users is probably a whole lot higher than the US. The US market is already saturated, while China is just getting started. Check the chart for total number of Internet users (CIA data)
Corporate tax contribution to the US Budget
Pre World War II: ~15%
Today: ~10%
Personal income tax contribution to the US budget
Pre World War II: ~15%
Today: ~45%
You can see the full graph here
Source:Executive Office of the President of the United States - Office of Management and Budget
If browsers had an option that only enabled cookies sent by the specific site you were visiting, all DoubleClick-like profile acquisition techniques would collapse, while preserving the usefulness of cookies for things like storing shopping cart info, site-specific preferences, etc. The only option that current browsers give you is to enable/disable ALL cookies, which is simply not a good option. Yes, you can configure IE to handle security on a case-by-case basis, but setting that up for each individual site is not practical. Maybe Mozilla will be more flexible?
Personal income taxes in the US fund over 40% of the government's budget, while corporate taxes contribute only about 10%.
If the states want more tax money, they should increase the tax rate for corporate profits. Don't ask me to subsidize billion-dollar businesses!
To get the whole picture check out US Budget Receipts by Source
I became a customer of CI Host in July of 1998. Immediately after uploading my pages to their server, I started experiencing problems. My calls and emails to customer service were never answered promptly, so after 3 or 4 months I decided to switch providers.
As soon as CI Host found out I was switching, they deleted all my data, without further explanation. Attempts to recover data that I had not yet moved to my new provider were completely unsuccessful. I found out that their claims about having redundant systems and frequent backups were not true.
Anyway, I thought that was the end of my worst experience with a hosting provider. I closed my account with them, hoping to forget the whole thing. Two months later (February of 1999), CI Host charged my credit card as if I were still a customer. Once again, my many calls and emails were never answered. Finally, after I tried to reach the CEO several times, they admitted their mistake and issued a refund in May of 1999 (they even gave me a copy of the refund slip).
To my utter disbelief, the refund never reached my credit card company. To this date I'm still trying to get my money back. CI Host never answers my calls, and takes about a month and a half to answer any email I send them (my contact there is Edith "I'm not allowed to give you my last name").
After dealing with about 10 different hosting providers over the years, I found CI Host to be the worst ever. If you want to save yourself months of frustration, financial losses, fraudulent charges, etc.
DO NOT HOST WITH CI HOST!!!