4 ms·
As an African I often wonder if we are solving problems in the right sequence. The Internet makes it easy to feel like one is connected to someone in SV but the
by mmsimanga 8y ago
As an African I often wonder if we are solving problems in the right sequence. The Internet makes it easy to feel like one is connected to someone in SV but the reality is we live in very different environments. I presume most people in SV have running water and pretty reliable electricity, decent roads and hospitals (yes I know there are issues with healthcare funding but the hospitals are there, in Africa we don't have the building). As a developer in Africa you have to contend with the underlying infrastructure issues and keep up with the latest JS framework :-).
- gowld 8y agoOne of Africa's greatest technical achievements was going "out of sequence" to go all-in on cellular Internet and mobile apps, skipping landline rollout to the home. wikipedia.org/wiki/M-Pesa
- lapinot 8y agoIs this an achievement of the locals or an achievement of Orange, Vodafone, MTN and Maroc Telecom, eg mostly non-african mega-corps vampirizing the market? Mobile networks are notoriously much more monopolistic and efficient at keeping out small actors and regulations than cabled telcos. And: mobile devices themselves also are much more blackbox-like than laptops and desktop boxes. No wonder OP laments about people not understanding "what's going on inside the tech" if the only thing they get exposed to is something based on vendor lock-in, with no file browser or text editor. (note that the same phenomenon is currently going on here in the west)
- mmsimanga 8y agoAbsolutely! I think there is also room to skip the traditional coal fired electricity generation and head straight to renewable like solar and wind. It isn't so easy to skip other infrastructure such as roads, hospitals and running water. The physical stuff.
- madrafi 8y agoThis touches close to home :')