Digital Divide

http://anina.typepad.com/anina/2005/12/digital_divide.html

This blog entry points to an interesting article about cell phones in the developing world. The $100 laptop may be a great device for kids in the developing world, but their parents could really use cell phones.

The article lists some clever uses for even the simplest cell phone (from basic communication to using SMS as am electronic wallet). I can only imagine what a smart phone or sidekick could be used for in those areas.

Also, the article makes the point that countries with cell phones don't need to develop the way we did. They don't need to go: signal telegraph, electronic telegraph, local wired phone, national wired phone, very expensive local cell service, cheap local cell service with expensive roaming, etc. Instead, they can jump right to cheap national/world communication via cell phones - skipping lots of steps in between. This should make for an interesting development pattern, as it should be less easy to predict than simply going through previously known stages.