5 ms·

Wikipedia Zero grows readership in Africa and Asia

50 points by TopTrix 14y ago

worldsayshi 14y ago
1. This is great! 2. Does this bring an interesting/problematic angle to net neutrality? (Not really right?)
gioele 14y ago
This result, although positive, may have much bigger drawback in the not-so-long term: this is a first blow to net neutrality. First net neutrality is broken for obviously good sites: Wikipedia & Co. Then it is broken for obviously useful sites: Google, Gmail, Hotmail, Facebook. Then news sites. Then some sport sites. In the end new sites (let's call them competitors) will find themselves confined in the "for pay" area, unable to enjoy the growth of the other sites (let's call them incumbent) because they cannot afford the expensive fees that the carries will charge to move you to the "for free area". I do not like this trend. I especially do not like Wikipedia and Africa being used as pilot cases for breaking the network neutrality.
- TopTrix 14y ago
  You are too much feared about it. This is just a informational and educational purpose and for the peoples who are not able to pay for data charges and there for cant get the information. This will remove the barrier of cost between poor and information. No one will stop using email, maps, forums, videos, apps and anything else available on internet because Wikipedia is free. The purpose and aim of Free information for education is completely different than you think.
- Donch 14y ago
  The greatest barrier to Internet usage in Africa is data charges. The vast majority of mobile owners cannot afford the price of data and are limited to using older "featurephones". Any move to widen access to information is to be applauded. There is no public information that Zero Facebook is actually being charged for the zero-rated access from the mobile networks involved. Network neutrality is an irrelevance to someone who cannot afford Internet access. First world problem :-)
- freehunter 14y ago
  I hear what you're saying, and I agree. Giving priority to Wikipedia is troubling from a neutrality standpoint. I do worry about a trend arising from this. However, like others commenting, I think in this instance it's a good thing. It wouldn't even have to be Wikipedia for this to be my opinion; we could see Facebook Zero and I would like it. My take on it is, it's better to have something with a catch than nothing at all. Think of the Space Race: should government be controlling the rockets? Should taxpayers be footing the bill for this immense research? It got us off the ground, and I would argue that's a good thing. Now there is a booming private space industry, because the initial investment, while cause for concern, got people demanding space technology. If people in African and Asian nations get a taste for web services, for the spread of information, for the ease of communication the Internet can offer, I'm predicting a similar end as the Space Race: private industry will boom once the demand reaches a high enough level. While net neutrality might be at risk in the short term, the important thing is getting the ball rolling. I can't predict the future, but I can extrapolate from the past. People will be demanding this technology in developing markets, and with the Internet comes education, business, and opportunities for improving the quality of life.
  - dbaupp 14y ago
    There is Facebook Zero[1]; I believe that it is (to some degree) the inspiration for the Wikipedia Zero project. An article[2] about it was submitted to HN a little while ago, and it argued that Facebook Zero is an attempt get people to think that "internet" and "Facebook" are synonyms. [1]: http://0.facebook.com/ http://0.facebook.com/ [2]: Possibly: http://qz.com/5180/facebooks-plan-to-find-its-next-billion-users-convince-them-the-internet-and-facebook-are-the-same/ http://qz.com/5180/facebooks-plan-to-find-its-next-billion-u... It's not loading for me so I can't be sure, but it is in my browser history.
    - Donch 14y ago
      Zero Facebook only works on some networks in certain countries: http://readwrite.com/2010/05/18/free_mobile_facebook_with_0facebookcom http://readwrite.com/2010/05/18/free_mobile_facebook_with_0f...
singold 14y ago
Really interesting. Just yesterday I saw in TV that in my country (Uruguay [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Uruguay] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Uruguay]) there would be free access to "Registered Educational Contents", at first I thougth "Great!" but then it came to me that voice that says "What about net neutrality??" I hope to see a good discusion here

50 points by TopTrix 14y ago

1. This is great! 2. Does this bring an interesting/problematic angle to net neutrality? (Not really right?)

This result, although positive, may have much bigger drawback in the not-so-long term: this is a first blow to net neutrality. First net neutrality is broken for obviously good sites: Wikipedia & Co. Then it is broken for obviously useful sites: Google, Gmail, Hotmail, Facebook. Then news sites. Then some sport sites. In the end new sites (let's call them competitors) will find themselves confined in the "for pay" area, unable to enjoy the growth of the other sites (let's call them incumbent) because they cannot afford the expensive fees that the carries will charge to move you to the "for free area". I do not like this trend. I especially do not like Wikipedia and Africa being used as pilot cases for breaking the network neutrality.

TopTrix 14y ago
You are too much feared about it. This is just a informational and educational purpose and for the peoples who are not able to pay for data charges and there for cant get the information. This will remove the barrier of cost between poor and information. No one will stop using email, maps, forums, videos, apps and anything else available on internet because Wikipedia is free. The purpose and aim of Free information for education is completely different than you think.
Donch 14y ago
The greatest barrier to Internet usage in Africa is data charges. The vast majority of mobile owners cannot afford the price of data and are limited to using older "featurephones". Any move to widen access to information is to be applauded. There is no public information that Zero Facebook is actually being charged for the zero-rated access from the mobile networks involved. Network neutrality is an irrelevance to someone who cannot afford Internet access. First world problem :-)
freehunter 14y ago
I hear what you're saying, and I agree. Giving priority to Wikipedia is troubling from a neutrality standpoint. I do worry about a trend arising from this. However, like others commenting, I think in this instance it's a good thing. It wouldn't even have to be Wikipedia for this to be my opinion; we could see Facebook Zero and I would like it. My take on it is, it's better to have something with a catch than nothing at all. Think of the Space Race: should government be controlling the rockets? Should taxpayers be footing the bill for this immense research? It got us off the ground, and I would argue that's a good thing. Now there is a booming private space industry, because the initial investment, while cause for concern, got people demanding space technology. If people in African and Asian nations get a taste for web services, for the spread of information, for the ease of communication the Internet can offer, I'm predicting a similar end as the Space Race: private industry will boom once the demand reaches a high enough level. While net neutrality might be at risk in the short term, the important thing is getting the ball rolling. I can't predict the future, but I can extrapolate from the past. People will be demanding this technology in developing markets, and with the Internet comes education, business, and opportunities for improving the quality of life.
- dbaupp 14y ago
  There is Facebook Zero[1]; I believe that it is (to some degree) the inspiration for the Wikipedia Zero project. An article[2] about it was submitted to HN a little while ago, and it argued that Facebook Zero is an attempt get people to think that "internet" and "Facebook" are synonyms. [1]: http://0.facebook.com/ http://0.facebook.com/ [2]: Possibly: http://qz.com/5180/facebooks-plan-to-find-its-next-billion-users-convince-them-the-internet-and-facebook-are-the-same/ http://qz.com/5180/facebooks-plan-to-find-its-next-billion-u... It's not loading for me so I can't be sure, but it is in my browser history.
  - Donch 14y ago
    Zero Facebook only works on some networks in certain countries: http://readwrite.com/2010/05/18/free_mobile_facebook_with_0facebookcom http://readwrite.com/2010/05/18/free_mobile_facebook_with_0f...

singold 14y ago

Really interesting. Just yesterday I saw in TV that in my country (Uruguay [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Uruguay] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Uruguay]) there would be free access to "Registered Educational Contents", at first I thougth "Great!" but then it came to me that voice that says "What about net neutrality??" I hope to see a good discusion here