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> Almost half of those surveyed were using internet-enabled smart or “feature” phones. The scratch cards that many Kenyans use to charge their mobiles have rece
by davycro 14y ago
> Almost half of those surveyed were using internet-enabled smart or “feature” phones. The scratch cards that many Kenyans use to charge their mobiles have recently begun to advertise their value in terms of data rather than talk time. Meanwhile, mobile-phone operators have been giving free access to sites such as Wikipedia to entice customers.
> Still, only 16% of respondents said they were using their phones to browse the internet.
The iHub report I read said that 88% of Kenyans browse the Internet with their mobile phone instead of 16%. The same report says that 99% of Internet access from Kenya is through a mobile device. I think the Western world assumes people in developing countries are dependent on computers for Internet access because of the popularity of the One Laptop Per Child program. I think we should recognize that the developing world will probably never have the resources or desire to adopt laptops or personal computers and so we should instead focus on providing them with web-content sized for their devices and hardware organizations such as OLPC should look into reducing the cost of smartphones. In my personal experience an android device in Africa costs at minimum of $200.
Reading this article reminds me that there is a huge demand for mobile Internet in developing world and few companies are capitalizing on this.
- sparky 14y ago>> Still, only 16% of respondents said they were using their phones to browse the internet. > The iHub report I read said that 88% of Kenyans browse the Internet with their mobile phone Maybe 18.2% of Kenyans browse the internet at all, and 88% of those (16% of all Kenyans) do it on their phones?
- deleted 14y ago[deleted]
- denzil_correa 14y ago> Reading this article reminds me that there is a huge demand for mobile Internet in developing world and few companies are capitalizing on this. I think IBM has recognized this and they are indeed trying to develop unique solutions. I know of one project called "Spoken Web" which is an Internet of spoken websites than traditional textual content. This was meant for people who can't read or write but can speak in local languages. There was at least one pilot study which was conducted with farmers. I guess they have even deployed the solution in one of the Indian states. [0] http://researcher.watson.ibm.com/researcher/view_project.php?id=2997 http://researcher.watson.ibm.com/researcher/view_project.php...
- okal 14y agoYou have personal experience with "Africa"? African countries have much less in common with each other than non-Africans tend to imagine. That being said, I agree with you regarding computer adoption. A new, low end Droid can be had for roughly $50 contract-free in my city, Nairobi.
- stcredzero 14y agoWhat percentage of the populace could afford such a device and the data plan? For what percentage would that be true for with a $25 device?
- davycro 14y agoI think most people in cape town will spend up to $100 for a phone. It's by far the most important possession here. Data plans are prepaid.
- okal 14y agoTo add to what davycro said, entry level Android devices are becoming price competitive with feature phones. Phones are seen as a long term investment, so poorer families often make sacrifices to acquire them. It wouldn't be unheard of for one to spend up to half their monthly income on the purchase. Mobile data costs KSH. 8/MB, about 10 US cents at its most expensive. This is still out of reach for a sizeable portion of the working population, but the situation is rapidly improving.
- davycro 14y agoAwesome, I am developing mobile software in Cape Town and wish Android phones had a higher adoption rate so I could build gps enabled apps for medical workers. Nairobi has a reputation for being the most tech forward city in Africa and hearing you can buy android phones for $50 there adds to that. For the record I'm not African. I've been in rsa for only three months.
- okal 14y agoThat sounds interesting. Are you building on SMS/USSD or J2ME?