[wsfii-discuss] public demand for information technology/Excuse me if I am rude

Thu Sep 21 15:03:32 UTC 2006

Hello friends;

> Usually, when I talk to USA citizens about information technology that
> the rest of the world can use, I run into some variant of the "walk
> before you run" argument.  People wonder what good information
> technology is to a goatherd, or a taxi driver, or a subsistence
> farmer.

There is a proverb in Nepal - A hungry porter wants to have lunch before
crossing the mountain top, but a porter, who is not hundgry, wants to have
snack after getting on the other side of the mountain.

I hope this makes sense to you. What it means is that those people living
in the developed countries (say USA for example), who have access to
several kinds of communication technologes, ask such kind of questions.
They are the porters in the Nepali proverb, who are not hungry and want to
have snack after crossing the mountain top.

My recommendation is that those people need to travel in the remote areas
of the world and stay away from any kinds of communication means to
contact their beloved ones for at least one month. They will find how hard
it will be to do that.

If they say they can do it without any problem, they are nerds.

If they want to know what a good information technology means to goat
hearders or cattle herders, please ask them to write me e-mail to
mahabir at himanchal.org or visit our site at http://www.nepalwireless.net. I
have answers for them.

If they still can't understant what I reply, that is not my problem.

Excuse me if I sound rude.

Thanks.

Mahabir

> Kragen Javier wrote:
>
>
>> Usually, when I talk to USA citizens about information technology that
>> the rest of the world can use, I run into some variant of the "walk
>> before you run" argument.  People wonder what good information
>> technology is to a goatherd, or a taxi driver, or a subsistence
>> farmer.
>
> I have run into that very same question and have always wondered what
> use a state of the art communications network is to someone too lazy to
> use it to find out that the rest of the world isn't made up of goat
> herders, taxi drivers, and subsistence farmers.
>
> The next step is going to be replacing the existing telecommunications
> infrastructure in many of these cases with licensed exempt equipment (as
> Dave mentions in a later post) even if there is a modest fee to help pay
> for the infrastructure build. I believe this will be brought about by a
> combination of three factors; 1.) a drop in the cost of very high
> bandwidth radios capable of servicing huge numbers of people, 2.) the
> understanding by local entrepreneurs that an investment in this
> equipment will be good for their profit margins as motivation to deploy
> this type of infrastructure, 3.) local governments will understand that
> economic development will benefit by allowing these networks to be built
> which will be good for their tax revenues - because, let's face it, that
> is what every government I am familiar with is concerned with.
>
> What needs to also be conveyed is this is no longer simply a broadband
> service, it is the entire telecommunications package all rolled into one
> and if you don't think that has some very wealthy people scared beyond
> belief, I would like to suggest we need to find a way for these people
> to understand that they should WANT to be a part of this revolution.
>
> Respectfully,
>
> Ken DiPietro
>
> New-ISP.net/NextGenCommunications.net
> Wireless solutions - not concessions.
> http://www.nextgencommunications.net
> 1044 National Highway LaVale MD 21502
> Tel# (301)789-2968 Cell (301)268-1154
>
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