[Reader-list] A walk across The Digital Divide - An experience

[Indranil Das Gupta]

Hi,

Over the last one and half years, I have been experimenting with the
idea of Localized Low Cost Computing and interacting with end-users to
see if and how The Digital Divide can be crossed. During this time I
have often been pleasantly surprised by the adaptive capability of our
people living on the wrong side of the Divide. 

Day before yesterday was something special that I will remember for very
long time. Here's that story [1] from my blog.

<BLOGPOST>

Today I reached WBUT at 12 O'Clock. Palashendu and the rest of the
Redhat Team was supposed to come down for a meeting with "The Boss". On
my way over, I was worried that without Sayamindu, Soumyadip or me being
around to switch on the LTSP server, our Santhali L10N colleagues may be
sitting in the lab without being able to get any work done.

Boy! was I surprised when I reached there... they were busy, with
fingers flying at their designated terminal! Intrigued as to who may
have set them up, I asked them only to find that the younger one among
our volunteers - Ajay Hembrom had done it!

Seems that by watching us go over our daily business at the lab, they
had quietly picked have out what all they needed to switch on and in
which order. Quite a few things actually - the main switch board -> the
power up LTSP server -> switch on another switch board -> switch on the
power strip supplying the 100MB/s switch connecting our LTSP terminals
-> switch on their terminal and bootup into their localized desktop.

Some may wonder what is really so extraordinary... well for one, they
are using computers for the first time in this lab. It took me a lot of
patience and nearly 10 days to get them to understand that they really
needed to press the <enter> key after entering their login ID and then
again after entering their password. From their perspective it was the
computer which was being stupid... asking them for their login and
password, which they were entering and still the darned beast would
foolishly sit idling waiting for who knows what!

Make no mistakes, they are intelligent people, only that being on the
other side of the Digital Divide, computers and IT happened to have
largely passed them by. This last one month has been their first
up-close and personal interaction with computers.

Once more, I found myself wondering over the innate intelligence and
adaptive vitality of our people. I wish some of the armchair-preachers
of "technology to the masses" who banter endlessly about the
user-friendliness of technological interfaces, had been with me at that
moment. 

</BLOGPOST>

cheers,
--indra.


References:

[1] http://blogs.randomink.org/node/view/106