Phone vs. Laptop: Which Is a More Effective Tool for Development?
Iqbal Z. Quadir, Nicholas Negroponte · Innovations Technology Governance Globalization · 2009
Iqbal Quadir, the founder of Grameenphone, and Nicholas Negroponte, the founder of One Laptop per Child, discuss the role of technology in development.Q.If we assume that technology will help bring the benefits of the modern world to developing societies, we can also assume that the resources to bring a full complement of that technology to poor countries probably don't exist.Both laptops and cell phones have proven to have dramatic effects on populations.Which offers more of a benefit?Quadir.Having struggled to bring cell phones to poor communities since 1993, I of course have a biased opinion.I would say cell phones bring greater benefits.There are several reasons why.Prominent among them is the fact that voice communications do not require literacy and are thus more egalitarian and more inclusive.While cell phones are natural devices for networking, their inclusiveness gives rise to a profound network effect.The second important reason is that people find an immediate payback through enhanced communications, which leads to a willingness and capability of paying for cell phone services.Connectivity is productivity.This phenomenon changes the economic ground realities and produces greater traction for phones.Their benefits proliferate, organically.