Tech Force One is my web log related to technologies, I use day to day.
The World is NOT flat! »
1
- Contrary to what Mr. Nilekani and Mr. Friedman would like you to believe, world is NOT really flat. I am from India and I know for sure that in India, we still don’t have all the cool techie stuff that the US and other western countries enjoy. While Sweden and Norway are talking about 4G, we still don’t have 3G here in India. We don’t have Vonage or something as popular. We even don’t have Number Portability. Can you believe that while Toyota Corolla costs around $15000 in the USA, it costs approximately $27,000 in Bangalore? I know the import duties and all othe reasons, but at the end, it IS lot more expensive in India. Apple does sell iPhone and iPods here, but we don’t have a iTunes Store. While my business partner in the US, Joe, is watching football games on thescoutingedge.com, the player just says, “Buffering” for us.
If you are wondering why I am so upset about all this, innovation in developing countries will always be slow because we don’t experience technology as you do. For example, if we cannot experience video conferencing on cell phones, it is difficult for us to dream about building a better streaming algorithm for mobile phones. I know this sounds very frustrating, but again, we don’t have enough water, food and electricity, why am I complaining about not having cool gadgets??
