I have a T-Shirt which carries the message “ I am analog”. I’ve had a number of weird comments and questions thrown at me whenever I don the T-shirt. But the most thought provoking question came from the gatekeeper of the place I work. He asked “ Sirjee! Yeh Analog kya hota hai?” Apparently he knew how to read English, which surprised me.
I was at a loss of words.
How does one explain technology to the ‘common man’? India is a booming IT and ITes powerhouse and still the people who know and interact with technology are a very select group. I won’t be talking about the great economic divide and the rich poor debate, but put very simply, the point I’m trying to make is that a huge chunk of India’s population has been unable to keep up with the technology; and the kind of education system that exists makes sure that they won’t be catching up in the near future.
Then why is the government intent on pushing technology into these hands who do not know what to do with it? Wi-Fi krishi mandis, laptops for village schools, wireless farm management systems? What sense does this make? I’m not saying that technology should be kept away from the developing areas; it is a big help; but the difference between useful technology and technology should be properly understood. A mobile might make a lot of sense to a farmer living in a remote village, but a laptop does not.
To me, the reason behind this blind thrust to bring technology to the people is that the government can then make claims like ‘we enabled the ‘underprivileged’ children by giving them free laptops’ or ‘the country is on the fast track of development: everyone will have a hi-speed broadband connection by 2010’. What the children do with the laptops and their hi-speed connections is none of their concern. A flood of hi-tech solutions, to problems that do not need them, is not development.
It’s been around in the news for long: plans of making Delhi Wi-Fi. Why? I’ll ask again. Has the government paused to look at the number of internet users in Delhi and of those who actually have the equipment to use Wi-Fi?
Cosmetics for making Delhi look good for the Commonwealth games is an acceptable expenditure, but a cosmetic surgery is something our poor country can ill afford. Like it or not, we still are a poor country. Go ahead, spend the money on technology, but let that be sensible technology and not that looks good and is of no use whatsoever.
The technological revolution is here, and it no doubt will make the lives of everyone easier and more comfortable. But let things take their own pace, evolution takes time. The evolution can be hastened, educate people, make technology understandable not just accessible; but trying to overtake evolution ( as is apparent) can only lead to disaster.
5 comments:
Good point made....
The only thing is...sonmethin is better than nothin..isnt it?
Ab agar anpadh logo ko laptops bat rahe hain to batne do....main to kahoonga khud bhi us line me jaa kar khade ho jao jahan laptops batte hain....
If u come to know bout such an event in future....do let me know.....
Jokes apart, I dont think much can be done regarding the point you have made other than efforts from ppl like us who call themselves well educated to educate the masses as much as we can.....
i agree with what shashank has said. we have to educate them. an organization is running some schools in numerous villages. it's not just another school. children are also given good IT education.
there is no problem in making delhi wi-fi. it has advantages. my college has wifi. I saw people acquiring quality information from the net. as a result, i got a laptop for myself as it's necessary for me to be updated about my field. so, technology was first introduced and then people like me came along.
All said and done, I think that as technologists, we always seem to be searching for problems for the solutions that we have rather than the other way round.
I think the problem is not with the technology but with that the government seems to do it as mere tokenism. Delhi will go wifi, delhi will get big five star/seven star hotels, but a large part of the country will continue to live without drinking water, electricity, and the most basic amenities. And we living in urban areas looking at the "cosmetics" forget about asking the politicians hard and tough questions about why we have such a sorry situation in the country after 60 years of independence. politicians are only happy if we continue to live in ignorance. Given the utter poverty and lack of the most basic amenities in such large portions of the country, this distribution of laptops to students in villages must also be no more than a gimmick.
i am impressed on your observation...
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