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The innovator-iterator argument seems to be a red herring. The real issue here is building bullshit apps vs. helpful apps. I think focusing on making helpful

The innovator-iterator argument seems to be a red herring. The real issue here is building bullshit apps vs. helpful apps. I think focusing on making helpful apps is a more important message to developers than trying to "fix poverty in Africa" which is a nice goal but not something any web developer is likely going to impact. The reality is no one is going to come up with an idea like mFarm without REALLY understanding that audience. You won't understand an entire ecosystem just by sitting on the corner. If you want to help Kenyans, instead find some promising Kenyan entrepreneurs and offer to be their code monkey, review their code or host their website. I think humility is crucial if you want to contribute to a market you don't fully understand.

jzellis 14y ago
Absolutely agreed. Which is why I'm trying to specifically do that right now. (If it's not obvious, I'm the guy who delivered this speech.) But I absolutely disagree that web developers can't impact poverty in Africa (or, maybe more importantly, in their own town). To be perfectly frank, I merely think most of us in this industry don't give a shit one way or another. Which is fine, but I'm perfectly happy to judge people all day long for thinking that way. ;-)
- ippisl 14y ago
  I wonder if we could connect more innovators to environments and communities with real problems, in some interesting way , and by this connection enable those innovators to gain perspective, knowledge and connections to work on the problem ? Something that's built in such a way that a community create a lot of knowledge about the problem and context(general situation, current solutions and their limitations) , but maybe not the solution, so people could be more motivated to implement their invented solutions?
alalonde 14y ago
Or, even better, GO TO Kenya. Live there for a year. Travel around the country. Learn the language. When you come home you will not only have a handful of disruptive startup ideas, but, most importantly, an open mind about the disparate cultures of the world.
- king_jester 14y ago
  Please don't do this. You cannot simply understand and be able to fix things in a society just by visiting it. You will always have the option of walking away and you will never have the same experience of the native inhabitants you believe you are trying to help. To truly help people from other countries, you have to get out of their way and let them have their own success and autonomy.
  - count 14y ago
    So just ignore them, and it'll work itself out?

jzellis 14y ago

Absolutely agreed. Which is why I'm trying to specifically do that right now. (If it's not obvious, I'm the guy who delivered this speech.) But I absolutely disagree that web developers can't impact poverty in Africa (or, maybe more importantly, in their own town). To be perfectly frank, I merely think most of us in this industry don't give a shit one way or another. Which is fine, but I'm perfectly happy to judge people all day long for thinking that way. ;-)

ippisl 14y ago
I wonder if we could connect more innovators to environments and communities with real problems, in some interesting way , and by this connection enable those innovators to gain perspective, knowledge and connections to work on the problem ? Something that's built in such a way that a community create a lot of knowledge about the problem and context(general situation, current solutions and their limitations) , but maybe not the solution, so people could be more motivated to implement their invented solutions?

alalonde 14y ago

Or, even better, GO TO Kenya. Live there for a year. Travel around the country. Learn the language. When you come home you will not only have a handful of disruptive startup ideas, but, most importantly, an open mind about the disparate cultures of the world.

king_jester 14y ago
Please don't do this. You cannot simply understand and be able to fix things in a society just by visiting it. You will always have the option of walking away and you will never have the same experience of the native inhabitants you believe you are trying to help. To truly help people from other countries, you have to get out of their way and let them have their own success and autonomy.
- count 14y ago
  So just ignore them, and it'll work itself out?