Will mobile phones bridge the digital divide?

So even if it were possible to wave a magic wand and cause a computer to appear in every household on earth, it would not achieve very much: a computer is not useful if you have no food or even electricity and cannot read.

According to a friend of mine who has spent a lot of time in Africa, often times when men are given access to computer over there they simply go to porn sites and indulge themselves. I definitely think that the idea from The Economist, that mobile phones can help close the digital divide, is promising. For investors especially, since introducing mobile phones will allow markets in the developed world to tap into the resources of poorer countries. By investing in lesser developed countries, we can allow their markets to grow and develop. Mobile phones are already fairly popular in Africa, for they aren't very expensive. Also people who don't have electricity can use them because they run on batteries.

What mobile phones can do for Africa that computers and the Internet can't, is to capitalize on resources that the Africans and others in similar situations already have. As the article said, what good is giving a computer to someone without electricity or who cannot read? You are ultimately adding to the problem by slowing down progress.

Mobile phones can also help those living under communist rule. When those living in communist North Korea get black market cellphones from their friends in South Korea, they are able to text message and attempt to organize mass protests (smartmobbing) or to just communicate with friends. In a country where the Internet is regulated and calls made on land lines are monitored, cell phones enable a person to keep in touch with the democratic world. Governments have not really found a way to regulate text messaging, and hopefully they will never be able to.

Technology (and globalization) has the advantage of making the world bigger and smaller at the same time. After the recent London bombings, for example, those in the African cities saw the news on TV, and could spread the word into the smaller villages where people may go for days without hearing. The Internet may never reach every person, because it isn't necessary or important in some cultures, but with technological innovations such as mobile phones, hopefully people can be more aware of each other and the world.