Today, while I was coming back from my office in my cab, my cab driver's phone rang & he pressed some button on his audio unit in the cab & he started the conversation. I wondered how that happened.
I asked him, "भैया, यह फ़ोन connected है इस से?".
The cab driver proudly said, "हाँ".
I asked him, ""लेकिन कोई wire तो नहीं है connected".
He again proudly said, "Bulootooth (bluetooth)". I was shocked!!! Super cool cab driver man!
But did this cab driver knew about the bluetooth technology per se. Definitely, definitely not!
The thought I had in mind for a couple of months now got answered. Yes, India is going to use internet without knowing it! And more & more on the phone, not the computer - computer is much more complicated since it needs to be 'understood' much more than a phone - how to put it on, which key to press when & where, logging in, opening a browser & what not!
Coming back to the point about latent demand in India for just about anything, internet is no different. There is a need, & everybody might know that there is a concept called internet existing, it is fancy to be a part of the revolution & there are means to have it at our disposal.
We are all reading research about how internet is shifting towards the smaller cities & how the internet activity is being spread across the rural areas. Everybody owns a phone, there is an internet provider, this is growing & moving much faster than people are able to think of. Even before they know & think of internet, their phone comes with a connection, just at a cost which they are able to afford. All they need to know is how to press a couple of buttons & I am sure in every community there would be some who know pressing buttons & they would teach others or do it for them, and, that's it!
Now, one would have phone with internet connection, even that they get all information on Google (press of a button again), they have regional languages which they can use to search, phones might come with google in that default language, & they might have credit cards - also without knowing the concept entirely but that they can use this as a credit form, which is quite prevalent in rural India in other forms.
So, all in all, every need is being satisfied in the way they can afford. That's it! Internet usage & even online purchase at their door step - without a bit of 'knowledge' of it. It works!!!
I asked him, "भैया, यह फ़ोन connected है इस से?".
The cab driver proudly said, "हाँ".
I asked him, ""लेकिन कोई wire तो नहीं है connected".
He again proudly said, "Bulootooth (bluetooth)". I was shocked!!! Super cool cab driver man!
But did this cab driver knew about the bluetooth technology per se. Definitely, definitely not!
The thought I had in mind for a couple of months now got answered. Yes, India is going to use internet without knowing it! And more & more on the phone, not the computer - computer is much more complicated since it needs to be 'understood' much more than a phone - how to put it on, which key to press when & where, logging in, opening a browser & what not!
Coming back to the point about latent demand in India for just about anything, internet is no different. There is a need, & everybody might know that there is a concept called internet existing, it is fancy to be a part of the revolution & there are means to have it at our disposal.
We are all reading research about how internet is shifting towards the smaller cities & how the internet activity is being spread across the rural areas. Everybody owns a phone, there is an internet provider, this is growing & moving much faster than people are able to think of. Even before they know & think of internet, their phone comes with a connection, just at a cost which they are able to afford. All they need to know is how to press a couple of buttons & I am sure in every community there would be some who know pressing buttons & they would teach others or do it for them, and, that's it!
Now, one would have phone with internet connection, even that they get all information on Google (press of a button again), they have regional languages which they can use to search, phones might come with google in that default language, & they might have credit cards - also without knowing the concept entirely but that they can use this as a credit form, which is quite prevalent in rural India in other forms.
So, all in all, every need is being satisfied in the way they can afford. That's it! Internet usage & even online purchase at their door step - without a bit of 'knowledge' of it. It works!!!
