Problems With Mobile Web In Developing Countries
Spotted this interesting article at LIRNEAsia.net. Nathan Eagle, who is developing a voice interface for the mobile internet, writes about the challenges of making mobile web useful for developing countries.
The Mobile Web is NOT helping the Developing World… and what we can do about it.
By Nathan Eagle | MobileActive.org
The phones that are designed and marketed for the ‘developing world’ today aren’t data enabled, they have no browser or any ability to function as a traditional data device. We’re dumping hundreds of millions of devices into these regions that are essentially crippled - and their legacy (the average life span of a phone in Africa is many times that of it’s Western counterpart) will affect mobile internet usage in these regions throughout the next decade. Furthermore, in the small Kenyan village where I live it’s significantly less than 1 in 10 phones that can support the traditional ‘mobile Web’ experience, and it’s probably closer to 1 in 1000 phones that have ever successfully connected to the web. Most of the phones I see in the village were originally manufactured well before 2003. (The most popular selling phone in my village is an old Ericsson that stopped being made back in 2001.) The local mobile operators should take some blame as well - many simply don’t have the equipment or expertise to role out a data network on top of their rapidly expanding GSM net. It took me over 10 days of phone calls with my local Kenyan operator to get my phone activated for their new EDGE network. Most people I know give up after the first couple of hours of configuration. And that’s assuming they actually have the right phone…
This is not to say that these billions of mobile phones do not have the potential to access content from the web - rather, the traditional browser-based paradigm of internet usage does not cater to them. The idea that the mobile web consists exclusively of mobile devices running web-browsers identical to the web experience we are used to with IE/Firefox is simply wrong. Throwing more and more resources towards creating devices for the developing world that can emulate the PC browsing experience is misguided. The 2 billion phones being used in the developing world are really great at making and receiving voice calls and text messages: Why not shape the internet experience to meet the specs of every phone’s inherent functionality (voice!) rather than requiring devices to have specs that quite frankly aren’t going to be realistic for many years to come?
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There is just a mobile craze in Pakistan and no such use….
Here Mobile is just l,ike a fashion…that everyone must adopt!
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Hi,
I’m so glad to have discovered your site! It’s difficult to find information on mobile web content especially in developing countries and you’re right on the mark. I’m especially interested in seeing coverage on citizen journalism which I believe was highlighted during the recent declaration of emergency rule and mobile activism.