One of the advantages of traveling on a major holiday is that no one else does, and so my flight to Rio was empty as my calendar turned its page to 2010 at 30,000 feet.
Corcovado (the Christ the Redeemer statue) is an inspiration to many for religious reasons. Standing high above the city with arms outstretched, it evokes feelings of protection, benevolence, compassion, charity, and friendship.
Have you seen videos of wingsuit flyers? What if Corcovado was also reminding us to soar in our daily lives?
Chris Brogan just blogged his 3 keywords for 2010. I’ll draw inspiration this year from Corcovado as a visual metaphor for soaring.
“Refuse to be average. Let your heart soar as high as it will.” –A.W. Tozer
Wishing you good fortune in the new year.
Panel on “Breaking Boundaries: Mobile Web Access in Emerging Economies,” with:
- G Kofi Annan — Annansi LLC
- Charles McCathieNevile — Opera Software
- Matt Womer — World Wide Web Consortium
- David Rogers — OMTP Ltd
In many regions, the mobile phone is the primary tool for Web access. As mobile Web connections increase in developing nations the impact will be significant. This panel examines the differences between mobile Web access in developing and developed regions and how the mobile Web can affect social development.
Why is the mobile web interesting in the developing world? More people have access to a mobile phone than to clean, running water. More people have a mobile phone than a computer. About 80% of the world has some sort of mobile coverage, so it’s obvious to say that mobile should be a point of online access. People in the developing don’t use mobile phones just for mobility. They are using it to access the internet with browsers like Opera Mini.
The uniqueness of the emerging economies is that mobile products must be adapted to how these economies are growing, so you need to analyze usage patterns, get feedback, and iterate often. Closed systems will not work because the barrier is too high; you need to be using open source software. Open source is also good because it avoids duplication of efforts.
In developing markets, the top applications are Facebook, MySpace. People are using this for entertainment and for connecting socially. There are many local sites that are big in their respective countries as well. Some examples of leading-edge applications in emerging economies include mobile banking, health care apps, and agriculture.
There’s a tendency to think that what we have in the West is what developing countries should aspire to. But if text is working, then that’s what should be used. There are a lot more options with text at this point and that’s what should be explored. What matters are the design challenges of “being local”, as you attempt to cater to locals and travellers. For example, the mobile capacity inside Australia matches demand (actually, you only really get about 2/3 of what is advertised). Because of the congestion of international lines, you only get about 10% when you travel outside of Australia.
Emerging markets are often in physically hostile environments. There is a unique opportunity now to provide a platform for the government or humanitarian organization to create a network that would constantly monitor the environment and give an early warning of impending natural disasters.
In developing markets, there is demand for either the most expensive smartphones, or the cheapes phones. There is not much demand in the middle: you can either afford the most expensive gear … or you can’t.
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Last year flew by and I didn’t get the chance to spend time with family and friends in Brazil during the holidays. Instead, I spent a week in Israel, right as the war started.
I’m in Brazil now, though, and I look forward to meeting a number of people I’ve corresponded with on Twitter. Social media seems to be catching on here and this will be a good opportunity to catch up and build bridges with those making it happen.
I’ll be heading back before Campus Party Brasil, which looks like a great tech event.
My mind is filled with questions as I ponder the history, culture, and current events of the region. I’ve heard so many positives and negatives, and it is with a great sense of curiosity and excitement that I travel to Israel and Jordan next week. In particular, I am anxious to meet some people from the tech community, although the timing is not great since most will be busy for year-end holidays and festivities. Still, I’ve been able to contact some thanks to the serendipity of Twitter, and hopefully this will reinforce bridges across the Atlantic. After all, looking at this picture of Tel Aviv, you’d think you were in Miami!
