I definately would pay for that. I am a web dev first and foremost, I usually dont like sys admin tasks, so I would gladly outsource that aspect to more professional handlers
I also agree, but my point is this, using a framework like Phonegap or Rhomobile etc, will give my mobile application access to some features of the host platform like notification, file access, events, sound, video, audio etc, if required. this is something a web app cannot do on a mobile device.
I agree with you. I have been playing around with some mobile frameworks (phonegap, titanium and rhomobile) and I must say that coding a native app for different mobile platforms isnt too attractive to me. using any of the aforementioned frameworks, you can develop mobile apps that will run across most major mobile OS's like iOS, blackberry and Android, although you might not get a 100% native app, the pain of learning all the SDK's of each mobile platform is skipped. Its just like Java's once stated goal of "write once, run anywhere"
Another thing oo, PG doesn't know Africa like you and I do, so I don't think his statement is the final word on African startups. Lets prove him wrong. (rolling up sleeves....)
I think we already know the answer to this question. taking you O_O as an example, your new startup called Lotaar, do you think it can become a global scale startup? The problem with us Nigerians/Africans is that we do not like to scratch our own itches, 2008 here in Nigeria, social networking sites were the rave, all because facebook was just becoming huge here then. Kenya's startup scene is light years ahead of Nigeria because they are creating "local" startups which are relevant there and also meet needs in other places, e.g. ushahidi (which I might not be right to call a startup) was created in kenya to monitor their elections but has been used in places like haiti to monitor disaster response during her earthquake. If african's can create startups that would be useful here in Africa and meet local needs, I think such a startup can grow to a global scale because the continent has an estimated 1 billion people. Like I have always said ( http://aitoehigie.wordpress.com/2009/05/15/building-a-world-...), Africa doesn't need clones of facebook or twitter when there are other fundamental problems that technology can be used to solve.
Very cool idea. I do not have a formal degree in comp. science and most times I feel that there so many things that I don't know which I ought to know. Is there any place where I can do a DIY undergraduate comp science degree?
There is no web censorship in Nigeria, only ISP's might ban a user from their network if a report was made about that user. The average 'broadband' speed in Nigeria is 200-400kbps and mostly wireless access. But with the completion of the MainOne submarine cable, it is expected that things here will change for the better. Nigeria's population is huge, 150million although the purchasing power of the average citizen is low, It's a strong emerging market.
It seems I spoke too soon, just found out that my email address was compromised and used to send spam to all the addresses in my address book. Got it all sorted out now.
Do what the Reddit guys did, create different accounts and post stuff under those account names to simulate the appearance of a growing community. Classic chicken or egg problem.
This are my reasons for creating this platform.
1. This is made with the local market in mind (Nigeria, West Africa), I doubt if this would be a hit in the first world.
2. Due to lack of a reliable payment gateway for local users here in Nigeria, I decided to use premium sms (short code). Once an advertiser texts his ad to the shortcode, his prepaid credit is debited, his ad appears on the target website of his choice and the revenue is shared between the ad platform, the shortcode provider and the website owner.
3. Google adsense or adwords isnt too attractive here in Nigeria because of the hassles of getting paid by google. Recurring online payment gateway issues.
I would still like to have some tips on how I can embed the text ads on 3rd party sites when I do not access to the code of the 3rd party site.
Thanks guys
Thank you for your response. Actually advertisers would not need an account, once they browse to any website that is on the ad network, they simply text their ad to a short code, since most people in my country here are prepaid mobile users, their account is debited and the revenue is shared between the mobile operator, the ad platform and the website owner.