The meek shall inherit the web

economist.com

14 points·davidw··5 comments

Slightly OT, but I just finished the book by Felix Dennis. There's this quote:

"The meek shall inherit the earth, but not the mining rights"

Attributed to J. Paul Getty.

Just finished the Felix Dennis book too. A little self-indulgent at times but a good read.

While they may be 'technically' accessing the web with their phones, it's not the web as we know it via our Laptops/PC's and broadband connections.

My cell phone circa 2001 has net access, but I wouldn't exactly call it the "Interweb" as it was just weather/sports/news on a tiny screen walled in and horribly limiting.

Good article though, and I'm sure the iPhone will influence better browsers for mobile phones which will help this.

The point is, however, that most people in developing countries aren't going to be able to afford a $300 iPhone. They're going to be getting a cheap phone with basic functionality.

The innovation that the article is talking about is by using basic mobile technologies like SMS to create mobile banking and payment services. They aren't talking about creating a new bunch of iPhone apps.

most people in developing countries aren't going to be able to afford a $300 iPhone. They're going to be getting a cheap phone with basic functionality.

In 3-5 years, a "cheap phone with basic functionality" will have the same basic feature set as an iPhone (though not the slickness, that costs extra).

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