Hacker News Reader

Comment by jasode | Hacker News Reader

Hans Rosling presented a similar topic at TED (2010):

http://www.ted.com/talks/hans_rosling_and_the_magic_washing_...

On the other hand, we may overestimate the disruption of home appliances because of how history played out. Today, many poor villagers choose to spend what little money they have on a cellphone instead of a washing machine. They continue to wash clothes by hand and hang them to dry but they absolutely need the cellphone to tell them what price their crops will sell for at the market.

View on HN

The article is about last century. Smartphones are this century's invention. However, both appliances and mobile tech only show how significant and underestimated the effect of technology on society is. We like to think that technology is just some weird addition or convenience, but it seems to me that it is technological advancements that fundamentally transform society.

> Smartphones are this century's invention.

If you notice, I had deliberately used the word "cellphone" instead of "smartphone". Cellphones (1980s) were 20th century technology. Many poor villagers don't have smartphones but they do have cellphones.

Right. My misread, I apologize.

The reason I read 'smartphone' instead of 'cellphone' is that they're related to an observation I find important - that smartphones are actually essential tools for the poor. Internet access gives significant quality of life improvements.

Cellphones only took off in the late 90s. They are not really 80s technology, at least for poor peasans.

You could use the internet on a web on a phone in late 90's. The post 2000 smartphone was more an evolution than a specific capability. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mobile_browser

EX: BlackBerry 850 (1999) was very email centric.

You could, but the Internet in mid-to-late 90's was nothing like it looks today. I still remember WAP browsers and this was not something useful for general population in a way smartphones and the Internet of today are. Western corporate businessmen did AFAIK had some use for it though.

I was in india till 2001 and very few people in urban areas has cellular phone. Even in US during studies, very few students had cell phones (2001-2002).

The advent of cellphone is definitely from 2000 (not before). atleast my experience.

a found a link to support my observation: http://www.cartesian.com/the-rise-of-mobile-phones-20-years-...

Yes but you couldn't convince a 1989 Indian villager to use Zack Morris's brickphone. They only became practical from a price and "carry on your person" standpoint in the very late 90s or so.

Reply on news.ycombinator.com