Yeah giving internet to people who barely have running water and electricity is REALLY going to help uplift the poor. Solve health issues so people can work rather than spread disease. Introduce agriculture and self sustaining society. Then maybe you can introduce technology...
You might be surprised at the priorities of the poor themselves. Internet access means knowing the market price rather than being ripped off by a middleman for your crop. Getting the market price might mean being able to afford indoor plumbing, but maybe a scooter comes first so grandma can be taken to a doctor when needed.
Curing malaria is inherently a top down priority. Acquiring communications is bottom up.
To take another example, providing a robot chauffeur maybe a solution to a first world problem, but cars kill twice as many people as malaria, so don't knock the robot chauffeur if he cuts traffic accidents by half or better.
"Internet access means knowing the market price rather than being ripped off by a middleman for your crop."
This is a classic tale that got retold over and over again for the positive impact of communication. Farmers know the market price - that's not a problem. The problem is they might not be able to sell their crops at market prices due to logistical choices and availability.
If there are only a few trucks today to deliver your produce to the faraway market, you take whatever price the middle man gives you - regardless of the market price - because the other choice is leaving them rotten on the field.
> While at the conference, the young Malawian saw the internet for the first time and within hours began Google-searching for "windmill" and "solar energy" and was amazed with how many hits were returned for each search.
> Kamkwamba was particularly impressed with the speed at which he could achieve things using the internet. "I was very excited when I saw the internet for the first time," he said. "The internet makes transfer of information very instant."
Now imagine a billion people with the same access to information on useful things like good sanitation and building windmills.
