My 14 month old daughter knows how to use my iPhone. I don’t say this to brag about her skills (OK, maybe to brag just a bit) but to make an important point about access to technology. In the rich world kids under the age of 18 see it as a given that everybody has access to computers and smartphones. Trying to get them to understand that it’s not as easy in the much larger poor world can be tricky.
To get them in the right frame of mind to understand this disparity I ask them to imagine that George Washington has come back to life. What do they believe will be the advancements he finds most shocking? Generally our answers always come back to the same two themes: transportation and communication. Transportation creates its own dialogue but for the purposes of this post I will focus on communication. I tell them that for the poorest people in the world, they would find it equally as shocking that seemingly everybody is connected by mobile device.
The ability to communicate is paramount in our society, yet we take it for granted. At any moment I can call my wife and ask if I need to buy milk or to assure that one of us is picking up our children from school. I can make a call to a friend in New York City or post a Facebook message to my cousin in South Korea. Regardless, the idea of my message or call not getting through is nowhere on my radar.
In contrast, poverty can be so overwhelming in the poor world that the idea of communicating with a person across the country or on another continent is as realistic as riding a bike to the moon E.T. style. Yet, slowly but surely standards of living are improving in parts of the poor world. As the middle class grows they are demanding many of the same amenities the rich world enjoys, including smartphones.
To meet this growing demand several companies have attempted to create an affordable and functional phone for the developing world. One of these companies named Obi Worldphone is led by John Sculley, the former CEO of Apple. His goal: to make a top notch phone for under $200. After recently revealing two different models that have been highly rated and priced at $199 and $129 respectively I’d say “Mission Accomplished.” Having met their goal Obi hopes to fill the technological gap in the poor world and make his company highly profitable as they go after one billion potential new customers .