I’m not sure what the story is here. I suspect that there are several, and that none of them could be irrefutably defended — Hoffman! –. But I feel that there is something important in these numbers in terms of an understanding that investing in today’s future requires investing in our intellectual capital, investing in people and their information skills and their ability and opportunity to engage in life-long-learning.
It’s a short piece in this month’s WIRED Magazine called The Cost of Staying Connected. The article features a map of the world, with lines pointing to various spots around the world and listing the local cost of Internet cafe time in US dollars and at the percent of daily purchasing power per capita (GDP). The article is not yet available online, but here is a list of locations and prices, starting a twelve o’clock and going around the world clockwise.
There are certainly a lot of holes in this map that would further enrich or define the story. I also understand that Internet usage in other countries is more of a social endeavor, that it is rare to have access to the Internet at home, and that people surf, answer questions, solve problems, together as a group endeavor at the local cybercafe.
I was also recently struck by the price of public web surfing when exploring the American Airlines web site. In a listing of all the airport Admirals Club revealed that all U.S. sites served Internet access through T-Mobile ($6.00/hour), and that all non-US sites offered WiFi for free.
Again, normal market influences may account for much of this data. At the same time, the cost in percent of daily purchasing power indicates a potential for digital divide.
You can view a sort by cost in US dollars and also a sort by cost in purchasing power.
Accord to these sortings, the six countries where an hour of public access to the Internet costs more than ten percent of the daily purchasing power are:
- The Congo
- Nigeria
- Kenya
- Brazil
- U.S.A.
- Guatemala
“The Cost of Staying Connected: Internet Cafe Prices are all over the Map.” Wired Magazine May 2006: 53.
No, nothing fundamental to disagree with here 😉 I would just add that the cost of bandwidth in particular is a problem in parts of the developing world, my colleagues from The Shuttleworth Foundation in South Africa make the point that it is literally cheaper and quicker to fly from Capetown to Tokyo to download a Linux distribution from an internet cafe than it is to pay for the bandwidth to your home in Capetown. Their solution: The Freedom Toaster.
Dave,
Here is an interesting one for you. My wife and I are in the process of moving to a new apartment in downtown Shanghai, China. When I told our agent that I wanted to make sure no matter where we lived it had ADSL access, he just looked at me and laughed. “That’s easy…you can get that anywhere.” Come to find out that ADSL is usually included in the rental price. There’s and interesting thought…Internet access part of your rental fee? So we finally found this apartment 31st floor with amazing views of Shanghai. I asked the landlord about the ADSL. It is a 2mb line that cost 160RMB a month…that’s $20!
I have friends back in the States that can’t get broadband because of where they live and in Shanghai the locals can have it as soon as they can afford it.
Umm, there’s a story here.
Jeff
Two relevant stories, both from a very smart and funny young reporter, Josh Marshall:
1) Congress to give away the Internet
Josh mentions it here, but had already blogged about it about a year before, but I can’t find his original post.
2) Money Talks, Wireless Screams
A comment to this post has a link to savetheinternet.com which apparently has a help page on how this affects you
Speaking of money… my boss posted a well written summary & opinion of EETT funding this afternoon.
http://blog.lps.org/klanger/2006/05/07#a11
Just thought I would share it.