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| Oct 04, 2005 12:36 pm |
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re: re: re: One Laptop Per Child |
| Chris Young
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Haresh,Your illustration of the digital divide is not unique to India but, it exists here in Canada and the United States too.
While electricity is not an issue,there are other barriers to knowledge development such as access to broadband internet and functional low cost computers.
Having worked on the development of leading edge broadband and wireless applications, I have come to the realization that the vast majority of computer users in developed countries buy more computing power than they need. And, pay far too much for applications that run on those machines.
Out of this,I have become convinced that the Open Source software movement will become a powerfull economic force that will alter the existing development process and allow more people save a significant amount of money, and create new economic opportunities outside of the major software vendors (and likely to impact offshore development centers too).
The Challenge is, how do we respond to these mounting pressures?
My approach is to be on the front end, promoting low cost applications , and help develop an ecosystem for Open Source applications in the North American market.
On that note, I'm looking for distribution partners in the US and Canada who can call on small businesses in their local area.(Anyone Interested?)
With regard to basic infrastructure, there is debate in this country (Canada)as to whether Universal Broadband Internet is a basic necessity. While it may be a luxury in emerging markets, I would argue it is a necessity here, in order to ensure equal access to learning opportunities. However, when compared to simple utilities like water and electricity, perhaps we are more than a little off the mark.
Cheers,
ChrisPrivate Reply to Chris Young (new win) |
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