October 19, 2005
Cell Phones in Africa
An article from CNN describes how the use of cell phones in Africa greatly outpaces the use of land lines. It's easier to build-out a mobile network than an wired one. And, what's most intersting to me is how people creatively adapt this technology to their needs. Among many other creative uses of phones, I was particularly delighted by the use of phone minutes as a form of "currency." It's expensive to wire small amounts of money in Africa, but easy to txt minute credits from one phone to another.
Posted by bob | 2:16 PM | permalink | Comments (0)
July 28, 2005
Teenagers Online
"The number of teenagers using the internet has grown 24% in the past four years and 87% of those between the ages of 12 and 17 are online." This is from a report released today by the Pew Internet & American Life Project. According to the report, American teens live in a world enveloped by communications technologies.
About 21 million teens use the internet and half of them say they go online every day. Instant messaging is more common amongst this group than email. Personal "avatars" and "I'm away" messages provide markers in their virtual world even when they're not directly connected. Their social life has become hinged on ubiquitous access to their virtual world from many physical locations.
An interesting social fabric being woven by the next generation. The full report can be viewed on the Pew Internet web site.
Posted by bob | 5:04 PM | permalink | Comments (0)