My good friend Ken Bank’s from Kiwanja.net has written a phenomenal article for publius.cc, the syndicated project of Harvard’s Berkman Center For Internet & Society. You may remember the name because we first wrote about Ken’s FrontlineSMS mobile solution here on PDF several years ago. The article, titled One Missed Call, examines the mobile development world as it relates to the grassroots, NGO’s and non-profits of the world.
Paralleling Aderson’s “Long Tail ” Bank’s discusses our tendency to aim for the big and sexy when it comes to mobile solutions. According to Bank’s this type of cutting edge technology is therefore only available to the resource rich NGO’s. Bank’s sees a Mobile divide on the horizon. His solution? Look toward the Social Mobile Long Tail
I strongly believe that we need to seriously refocus some of our attention there to avoid developing our own NGO “digital divide”. To do this we need to think about low-end, simple, appropriate mobile technology solutions which are easy to obtain, affordable, require as little technical expertise as possible, and are easy to copy and replicate. This is something I regularly write about, and it’s a challenge I’m more than happy to throw down to the developer community.
The rest of the article discusses how as a result of this developers tend to ignore the “low hanging fruit” of using technology to enhance communication. This of course brings up, as an example, SMS.
I do not want to give away the entire article here but its very well written so I wanted to draw it to your attention.
Ken understands and taps the true nature of mobile technology. That its not about this or that campaign sending SMS alerts. The true power of the mobile medium rests in the people that use that medium and the developers that develop it for that.
In the US they are not such a big deal. But in the rest of the world the word cell phone and Nokia are often said under the same breath. The Finnish company has 40 percent of the world market. That means 1 in every 4 phones sold in the world is a Nokia phone. In emerging markets its almost always the only phone you will find.
Now Nokia wants to put the power of being the number one phone distributer (and camera distributor) in the world to some good use. Yesterday, Nokia announced its contest, Calling All Innovators, encouraging developers to design applications that could help better society.
The categories of entry are broken down into ECO-Challanges, Emerging Markets and a basic Technology Showcase.
This is a fantastic idea and one that is long overdue since the folks at Mobileactive have been chatting this kind of stuff up for over three years now.
My hint for building any mobile application: When it comes to social change and politics mobile technology is not a persuasion tool but a mobilizer of the already persuaded.
More at World Changing.
After a long hiatus abroad and working on a new project, I came home this August to a barrage of inquires regarding the usage of mobile phones in this year’s election. While I had been following all of the news enthusiastically, I had very limited access to my US text messaging abilities and thus could not take part in what has been going on first hand.
This does not mean that I do not have my thoughts which, as someone removed from the process for a while, I hope may be somewhat refreshing.
Despite all of the hype surrounding the text message party planning at the DNC , or Obama’s text to screen or VP text announcement, it is important to realize that mobile phones have been used politically before with a far greater viral reach and, in the end, impact…
Many of you might not know or remember but I was on a panel at CTIA about mobile technology and politics. WHile the panel was not recorded here is a video of me being interviewed after the panel by BNET TV.
Voting in California couldn’t be anymore taxing on the voters. Tomorrow on Super Duper Tuesday, California will not only vote on the presidential primaries but also Propositions 91, 92, 93, 94, 95, 96, and 97.
Day to Day this morning jokingly explained the state of voting in California:
In California, voters need to go to night school to be informed. Or swallow a mouth full of dextrin, drink a pot of coffee as you pull an all-nighter, cramming for the civics test you’ll face at the polls tomorrow.
Even though I have a college degree, democracy in the State of California is overwhelming and above my head.
The LA Times saw a need for help and has posted a page where voters can read up on ballot measures, mark their votes, and text their plans to their mobile phone or email. That way, when they are in the booth, the can decipher which intuitive is for a gas tax and which is for Indian gambling.
A month ago my friend Ken Banks of Kiwanja launched a competition that encourages grassroots NGOs in developing countries to submit ideas on ways they could use text messaging in their work. This can be in health, human rights, the environment, activism, education or whatever. The best four entries will win laptop computers, Nokia phones, GSM modems and $1,000 in cash, courtesy of a range of sponsors which include Hewlett Packard, Nokia and Wieden+Kennedy. I think its a worth wile cause on many fronts. Visit www.ngomobile.org for more info via http://www.saidia.org/2007/09/18/ngos-going-mobile/http://whiteafrican.com/?p=748
Efforts to curb the practice of using electronic wireless devices, such as a BlackBerry device, while driving have picked up steam following the release of a Nationwide Mutual Insurance survey(pdf) that found one in five drivers texting while driving. Nearly three-quarters of drivers use cell phones.
The New Jersey Assembly and Senate voted to send to Gov. Jon Corzine legislation that would allow police to pull over drivers for typing, reading or sending text messages while at the wheel. The bill – S1099 – also would allow primary enforcement of the state’s ban on drivers using any cell phone that is not a “hands-free†device.
In 2004, New Jersey made it illegal to talk on a hand-held cell phone while driving. The law, however, allows police to ticket drivers only if they are stopped for another offense.
If signed into law, New Jersey would become the fifth state to adopt the stricter rule. Only Washington has banned text messaging while behind the wheel.
Violators of the cell phone restriction would face $100 fines. “Texting†while driving would also result in $100 fines.
“Clearly, this is a problem that will become more severe in the future as wireless communications become more commonplace,†David Mayer, D-Gloucester, said in a written statement. “We need to act now to discourage it.â€
Tonight, the Edwards campaign plans to send text messages to more than 13,000 supporters in a high-tech fundraising pitch that comes as all the candidates are aggressively tapping donors before the June 30 campaign FEC deadline.
Those who reply to the text message will get a cell phone call with a pre-recorded message from Mr. Edwards:
“I’m calling to remind you that with just over a week before the end of the quarter the time to act is now. I’m not asking you to help us out-raise everyone else. I’m only asking you for what we need to get our message of real change out to voters in Iowa, New Hampshire, and other key states nationwide.â€
Supporters who want to make a donation will have the option of dialing into a special phone bank the campaign has set up from 7 to 10 tonight. And if by chance you miss that window, you’ll get another plea via texting.
Maryland Delegate Jeffery Waldstreicher plans to introduce legislation in MD, banning the use of text messaging while driving.If passed, Maryland would be the second state to in act such legislation (Washington being the first).
“Texting is so incredibly dangerous because it requires you to take your eyes off the road,” he said. “Talking takes your hands off, which is dangerous in itself, but texting takes your eyes off the road.â€
Just the other day I was talking with some colleagues wondering why there where never ever “Bushism” ringtones that become widespread. I mean, there have been cases of people making Bush blunder ringtones, but the real question is why political ringtones have not caught on and why no one is standing up and trying to distribute it on a mass scale.
Well just in time for the 08 elections, Ringtones08.com is hoping to make Ringtones the new bumper sticker and lawn sign. Simply put RingTones08.com is a free site that user the power of myxer.com to let anyone upload and download ringtones about the 2008 election. Thats a key element, not only will they create and distribute election teemed ringtones but they will also let you, or anyone (i.e a campaign) use their site to upload ringtones of their own for viral distribution.
My good friend Ken Bank’s from Kiwanja.net has written a phenomenal article for publius.cc, the syndicated project of Harvard’s Berkman Center For Internet & Society. You may remember the name because we first wrote about Ken’s FrontlineSMS mobile solution here on PDF several years ago. The article, titled One Missed Call, examines the mobile development world as it relates to the grassroots, NGO’s and non-profits of the world.
