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gates gets digital divide

2000-10-23 18:41:08+00 by Dan Lyke 2 comments

Via Rebecca's Pocket, Bill Gates gets the alleged digital divide and wiring the third world: At one point, Shuster pressed Gates about the viability of the market of people who make less than $1 a day. Gates paused, and said that this was "not a significant market" before addressing the comment more directly. "Do people have a clear idea of what it means to make $1 a day?" Gates said. "There is no electricity. No power systems. These people are trying to stay alive. There is no need for a PC." Yes, the 'net is a tremendous tool, but slapping computers into every situation without finding the need for them first is plain stooopid. Too bad so many tech people don't get that.

[ related topics: Cool Science ]

comments in ascending chronological order (reverse):

#Comment made: 2002-02-21 05:30:26+00 by: Larry Burton

It looks to me like Scott Shuster is the one that doesn't get it. Computers and the 'net are tremendous tools but then so is my Milwaukee reciprocating saw. Until people like Shuster understand that you don't use a PC to carve a turkey they will never open up any markets in the third world to new technology. Technology can help these people but it has to be appropriate technology. Love him or hate him, Bill Gates is one of today's great visionaries and his grasp of the obvious may be the reason he is.

#Comment made: 2002-02-21 05:30:26+00 by: Dan Lyke

Shuster is just a symptom of a problem endemic to, for instance, many school boards across the country. Spending tremendous amounts on computers and wiring so that advertisers can more directly target students isn't what they set out to do, but because they don't understand that technology is a tool, that's exactly what school boards, and even some alleged "educators", are doing.