4 ms·

The ACA could barely roll out a website without tragic failure, how have cell phones "dramatically improved" the lives of the poor? They're still subject to as

by ajamesm 10y ago

The ACA could barely roll out a website without tragic failure, how have cell phones "dramatically improved" the lives of the poor? They're still subject to as much bureaucracy and denial of basic services as ever. 4G hasn't improved public transpo. I suppose the poor are no longer subject to long-distance fees during daytime.

apsec112 10y ago
"how have cell phones "dramatically improved" the lives of the poor?" There's tons of stuff on this, but, eg., here's a poster from USAID: https://s-media-cache-ak0.pinimg.com/originals/09/35/2d/09352d334de4d47b29c48adcbd03b204.jpg https://s-media-cache-ak0.pinimg.com/originals/09/35/2d/0935...
- ajamesm 10y ago
  Did you look at these metrics? They're weak as fuck. Most of them are "there's a platform or chart for this now" which is meaningless and probably intentionally decontextualized. To be clear, it's good that people have access to the internet and all the interconnectivity that it brings. I'm not slamming the basic premise. What I'm angry about is the opportunity cost. Telecoms & ISPs roll out bare minimums and say "hey look, now poor people can [cherry-picked thing that doesn't alleviate poverty]" when the real question is how we live in the most prosperous nation of all time, in an era when we have solved every basic necessity, and kids still experience food insecurity in American cities. Meanwhile, telecom CEOs merge back into monopolies. Dramatic improvement in the lives of the poor would yield better metrics than a 30% increase in Haitians using mobile banking. Christ, half of that increase could be from unconnected citizens dying from endemic disease & reducing the denominator.
  - cbr 10y ago
    This isn't the US, but cell phones make M-Pesa possible, which is very positive: http://www.jefftk.com/suri2014.pdf http://www.jefftk.com/suri2014.pdf http://www.jefftk.com/suri2016.pdf http://www.jefftk.com/suri2016.pdf
nl 10y ago
http://www.diva-portal.org/smash/get/diva2:205909/fulltext01.pdf http://www.diva-portal.org/smash/get/diva2:205909/fulltext01... http://www.ictworks.org/2016/06/27/yes-farmers-do-use-mobile-phones-for-market-prices/ http://www.ictworks.org/2016/06/27/yes-farmers-do-use-mobile... Etc. And that's just easily measured benefits. There's good reasons why more people in Africa have access to cell phones than to clean water.

by ajamesm 10y ago

apsec112 10y ago

"how have cell phones "dramatically improved" the lives of the poor?" There's tons of stuff on this, but, eg., here's a poster from USAID: https://s-media-cache-ak0.pinimg.com/originals/09/35/2d/09352d334de4d47b29c48adcbd03b204.jpg https://s-media-cache-ak0.pinimg.com/originals/09/35/2d/0935...

ajamesm 10y ago
Did you look at these metrics? They're weak as fuck. Most of them are "there's a platform or chart for this now" which is meaningless and probably intentionally decontextualized. To be clear, it's good that people have access to the internet and all the interconnectivity that it brings. I'm not slamming the basic premise. What I'm angry about is the opportunity cost. Telecoms & ISPs roll out bare minimums and say "hey look, now poor people can [cherry-picked thing that doesn't alleviate poverty]" when the real question is how we live in the most prosperous nation of all time, in an era when we have solved every basic necessity, and kids still experience food insecurity in American cities. Meanwhile, telecom CEOs merge back into monopolies. Dramatic improvement in the lives of the poor would yield better metrics than a 30% increase in Haitians using mobile banking. Christ, half of that increase could be from unconnected citizens dying from endemic disease & reducing the denominator.
- cbr 10y ago
  This isn't the US, but cell phones make M-Pesa possible, which is very positive: http://www.jefftk.com/suri2014.pdf http://www.jefftk.com/suri2014.pdf http://www.jefftk.com/suri2016.pdf http://www.jefftk.com/suri2016.pdf

nl 10y ago

http://www.diva-portal.org/smash/get/diva2:205909/fulltext01.pdf http://www.diva-portal.org/smash/get/diva2:205909/fulltext01... http://www.ictworks.org/2016/06/27/yes-farmers-do-use-mobile-phones-for-market-prices/ http://www.ictworks.org/2016/06/27/yes-farmers-do-use-mobile... Etc. And that's just easily measured benefits. There's good reasons why more people in Africa have access to cell phones than to clean water.