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> IF IT WORKS IN AFRICA, IT'LL WORK ANYWHERE Nice little insult there. Way to start out on the wrong foot with Africans. PS: Yes I'm actually African, and tha

> IF IT WORKS IN AFRICA, IT'LL WORK ANYWHERE Nice little insult there. Way to start out on the wrong foot with Africans. PS: Yes I'm actually African, and that pissed me off.

jcutrell 13y ago
I think this is kind of like an air conditioning company saying, "If it can cool you off in the tropics, it can cool you off anywhere!" The facts are simple: there are significant parts of Africa that are very sparsely connected to what is commonly available in many (or most) other countries of the world. I get how this can be somewhat offensive, but I also think the point comes across and isn't directed at the African people. If it works in Africa, then, objectively, it works in sparsely populated and sparsely connected areas.
- derleth 13y ago
  > If it works in Africa, then, objectively, it works in sparsely populated and sparsely connected areas. If it works in a really nice hotel in Johannesburg, it's working in Africa. Your point is invalid.
  - evan_ 13y ago
    Is that what they meant? Is that what most people will understand it to mean?
  - jcutrell 13y ago
    My point isn't invalid. Communication is messy, and this is an example of that. "I was in the middle of the ocean!" Did you think I was in water? You're wrong. I was on an island that is in the middle of an ocean. "I stayed in a hotel in New York." Did you think I rented a hotel room? No, I simply stood in the lobby. You can't say that because someone says something without constraining it with every detail, that the communicated point is incomplete. Communication is a loose protocol.
mintplant 13y ago
> Yes I'm actually African According to the site, so are the developers. They built it in response to a problem they actually had... in Africa. I think you're taking this the wrong way.
jonemo 13y ago
Never been to Africa, but this sentence tripped me up too. From what I hear/read some parts of Africa are way ahead in mobile connectivity compared to the US. As in: You can actually put SIM cards into phone (hello Sprint/Verizon), mobile payments are widespread in some countries (Kenya?), and there are sensible ways to purchase connectivity (in less than 2-year increments).
totti 13y ago
I'm African - Tanzanian - and that wasn't offensive. Our Mobile Networks in cities etc might be great (at times) but I think what they were trying to imply was that it works in truly remote locations like rural areas etc. Nevertheless I'm not convinced of its potential.
billmalarky 13y ago
And yet here you are on hacker news not working in Africa. ;-)

> IF IT WORKS IN AFRICA, IT'LL WORK ANYWHERE Nice little insult there. Way to start out on the wrong foot with Africans. PS: Yes I'm actually African, and that pissed me off.

jcutrell 13y ago

I think this is kind of like an air conditioning company saying, "If it can cool you off in the tropics, it can cool you off anywhere!" The facts are simple: there are significant parts of Africa that are very sparsely connected to what is commonly available in many (or most) other countries of the world. I get how this can be somewhat offensive, but I also think the point comes across and isn't directed at the African people. If it works in Africa, then, objectively, it works in sparsely populated and sparsely connected areas.

derleth 13y ago
> If it works in Africa, then, objectively, it works in sparsely populated and sparsely connected areas. If it works in a really nice hotel in Johannesburg, it's working in Africa. Your point is invalid.
- evan_ 13y ago
  Is that what they meant? Is that what most people will understand it to mean?
- jcutrell 13y ago
  My point isn't invalid. Communication is messy, and this is an example of that. "I was in the middle of the ocean!" Did you think I was in water? You're wrong. I was on an island that is in the middle of an ocean. "I stayed in a hotel in New York." Did you think I rented a hotel room? No, I simply stood in the lobby. You can't say that because someone says something without constraining it with every detail, that the communicated point is incomplete. Communication is a loose protocol.

mintplant 13y ago

> Yes I'm actually African According to the site, so are the developers. They built it in response to a problem they actually had... in Africa. I think you're taking this the wrong way.

jonemo 13y ago

Never been to Africa, but this sentence tripped me up too. From what I hear/read some parts of Africa are way ahead in mobile connectivity compared to the US. As in: You can actually put SIM cards into phone (hello Sprint/Verizon), mobile payments are widespread in some countries (Kenya?), and there are sensible ways to purchase connectivity (in less than 2-year increments).

totti 13y ago

I'm African - Tanzanian - and that wasn't offensive. Our Mobile Networks in cities etc might be great (at times) but I think what they were trying to imply was that it works in truly remote locations like rural areas etc. Nevertheless I'm not convinced of its potential.

billmalarky 13y ago

And yet here you are on hacker news not working in Africa. ;-)