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Parts of the theory of disruption - specifically that an entity with less entrenched structures, can solve problems in more efficient ways - applies to nation s

Parts of the theory of disruption - specifically that an entity with less entrenched structures, can solve problems in more efficient ways - applies to nation states as well. When 25% of your country has no electricity at all, you get to imagine parts of your grid from the ground up. If there's an expectation of load-shedding and your grid doesn't have to be at a 100% in all places, you have room to make mistakes. Most importantly, if the renewables aren't replacing but rather adding to your energy generation capacity, you don't have to fight entrenched fossil fuel businesses and associated regulatory capture to get started. In many ways it's similar to how telephony spread in the developing world. They skipped landlines entirely and went straight to GSM. I'm terribly excited about renewables in parts of Africa and the rural areas in South Asia. My family is originally from Bangladesh. The local grid is so unreliable in rural areas and Chinese solar equipment so cheap that most of my family members who live in villages just bought a solar installation instead of waiting around for the utilities to run wiring.

kornish 9y ago
> In many ways it's similar to how telephony spread in the developing world. They skipped landlines entirely and went straight to GSM. And also how banking/payment is spreading in Africa: mobile-to-mobile, skipping credit cards entirely.
- jacquesm 9y ago
  The same happened in Spain, first time I saw someone doing a payment by mobile was at a bus-stop, as if it was normal he paid his electricity bill. It was the result of a collaboration between Telefonica and one or more banks, I forgot what it was called. Way ahead of the rest of Europe, this probably was early 2000 or 2001.
  - scythe 9y ago
    "Blessed are the meek: for they shall inherit the Earth"
- danbolt 9y ago
  I love the elegance and futurism of paying with mobile phones like that, but do the telephone companies operate in a similar manner to financial institutions there? For instance, if I deposit money, do I receive interest? What happens to my funds if the phone company goes bankrupt? Are there similar regulations to banks?
  - fellellor 9y ago
    I'm guessing the banks are still running the infrastructure. It's just they didn't bother with installing card networks since mobile payments is an evolution over them.
  - orasis 9y ago
    When was the last time you earned a noteworthy amount of interest on a bank deposit?
    - kartickv 9y ago
      Not many in India would see things the way you do. Why lose interest if you can get it, particularly if you don't have more interest coming in from mutual funds or someplace else? If anything, the competition is on to see who'll pay more interest. One payments bank announced 7%: http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/wealth/personal-finance-news/airtel-payments-bank-offers-7-25-interest/articleshow/56512588.cms http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/wealth/personal-finance-...
      - deleted 9y ago
        [deleted]
      - Retric 9y ago
        What's the post inflation adjusted interest rate? Because simply moving your money to a low inflation currency does the same thing. The only catch is that the payments banks, which do not offer loans and several other facilities offered by full fledged rivals, are not allowed to accept deposits beyond Rs 1 lakh in bank accounts, which will have the same number as your mobile number. Bharti Airtel chairman Sunil Bharti Mittal said that the higher interest rate and freebies such as life insurance of up to Rs 1 lakh was an "introductory offer" and the rates would go down in a falling interest rate environment Ahh, nm. This is just a fixed amount of cash they hand you for switching banks not a full time interest rate.
caio1982 9y ago
The same in some parts of Nepal and just like it happened in some rural areas of Brazil. Very exciting indeed.
_ph_ 9y ago
An important difference is also, that big power plants are huge investments, up to 1 billion $ and more, and require a large grid. Solar and wind installations can be created locally in unconnected villages and start at a few hundreds to thousands $ and can be planned dezentral.
agumonkey 9y ago
is "theory of disruption" a new term ? Does it deal with other structural resistance ? Such as big companies unable to decide whether to keep reaping benefits of past success or saw their own branch to evolve the market into a new and probably better state ?
- kornish 9y ago
  "Disruption" frequently refers to the ideas discussed by Professor Clayton Christensen, who's written some books on the topic. Good jumping off points here: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Innovator%27s_Dilemma https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Innovator%27s_Dilemma https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Disruptive_innovatio https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Disruptive_innovatio
arjie 9y ago
See Wikipedia entry for Leapfrogging for more info: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leapfrogging https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leapfrogging

kornish 9y ago

> In many ways it's similar to how telephony spread in the developing world. They skipped landlines entirely and went straight to GSM. And also how banking/payment is spreading in Africa: mobile-to-mobile, skipping credit cards entirely.

jacquesm 9y ago
The same happened in Spain, first time I saw someone doing a payment by mobile was at a bus-stop, as if it was normal he paid his electricity bill. It was the result of a collaboration between Telefonica and one or more banks, I forgot what it was called. Way ahead of the rest of Europe, this probably was early 2000 or 2001.
- scythe 9y ago
  "Blessed are the meek: for they shall inherit the Earth"
danbolt 9y ago
I love the elegance and futurism of paying with mobile phones like that, but do the telephone companies operate in a similar manner to financial institutions there? For instance, if I deposit money, do I receive interest? What happens to my funds if the phone company goes bankrupt? Are there similar regulations to banks?
- fellellor 9y ago
  I'm guessing the banks are still running the infrastructure. It's just they didn't bother with installing card networks since mobile payments is an evolution over them.
- orasis 9y ago
  When was the last time you earned a noteworthy amount of interest on a bank deposit?
  - kartickv 9y ago
    Not many in India would see things the way you do. Why lose interest if you can get it, particularly if you don't have more interest coming in from mutual funds or someplace else? If anything, the competition is on to see who'll pay more interest. One payments bank announced 7%: http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/wealth/personal-finance-news/airtel-payments-bank-offers-7-25-interest/articleshow/56512588.cms http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/wealth/personal-finance-...
    - deleted 9y ago
      [deleted]
    - Retric 9y ago
      What's the post inflation adjusted interest rate? Because simply moving your money to a low inflation currency does the same thing. The only catch is that the payments banks, which do not offer loans and several other facilities offered by full fledged rivals, are not allowed to accept deposits beyond Rs 1 lakh in bank accounts, which will have the same number as your mobile number. Bharti Airtel chairman Sunil Bharti Mittal said that the higher interest rate and freebies such as life insurance of up to Rs 1 lakh was an "introductory offer" and the rates would go down in a falling interest rate environment Ahh, nm. This is just a fixed amount of cash they hand you for switching banks not a full time interest rate.

caio1982 9y ago

The same in some parts of Nepal and just like it happened in some rural areas of Brazil. Very exciting indeed.

_ph_ 9y ago

An important difference is also, that big power plants are huge investments, up to 1 billion $ and more, and require a large grid. Solar and wind installations can be created locally in unconnected villages and start at a few hundreds to thousands $ and can be planned dezentral.

agumonkey 9y ago

is "theory of disruption" a new term ? Does it deal with other structural resistance ? Such as big companies unable to decide whether to keep reaping benefits of past success or saw their own branch to evolve the market into a new and probably better state ?

kornish 9y ago
"Disruption" frequently refers to the ideas discussed by Professor Clayton Christensen, who's written some books on the topic. Good jumping off points here: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Innovator%27s_Dilemma https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Innovator%27s_Dilemma https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Disruptive_innovatio https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Disruptive_innovatio

arjie 9y ago

See Wikipedia entry for Leapfrogging for more info: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leapfrogging https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leapfrogging