Wednesday, December 26, 2007
Could cell phones be a cultural connector?
Can you image traveling 20 kilometers (12 miles) everyday – just to charge your cell phone? There may not be electricity in the village of Kajrai, India, but can get a cell phone signal. Forty villagers now have cell phones according to an article published by IBN. Without roads, these villagers travel by foot to Mandi Bamora, another village almost 10 kilometers away. The government has seen much success in making the entire country broadband accessible, however providing electricity to the nation is not keeping pace. As the infrastructure is built, rural Indians are finding the cell phones to be valuable, giving them to relatives in other areas and the security should there be an emergency.
The Amish culture has also had a significant cultural change due to the cell phone. This is a culture where modern conveniences are shunned in an attempt to remain separated from the non-Amish world -- which might distract them from devoting their lives to God. The Amish do not connect their homes to the rest of the world through water, sewer, phone, or electrical lines. A farming culture, they do not drive cars or tractors, and use horse driven carts to take crops to market. Many view the culture as stuck in the 1800s. Despite this living style, most Amish families now have one or more cell phones, recharged by individual power generators on their property.
I wonder if the Amish talk on the phone while driving their buggy? ¶ 12/26/2007
Can you image traveling 20 kilometers (12 miles) everyday – just to charge your cell phone? There may not be electricity in the village of Kajrai, India, but can get a cell phone signal. Forty villagers now have cell phones according to an article published by IBN. Without roads, these villagers travel by foot to Mandi Bamora, another village almost 10 kilometers away. The government has seen much success in making the entire country broadband accessible, however providing electricity to the nation is not keeping pace. As the infrastructure is built, rural Indians are finding the cell phones to be valuable, giving them to relatives in other areas and the security should there be an emergency.The Amish culture has also had a significant cultural change due to the cell phone. This is a culture where modern conveniences are shunned in an attempt to remain separated from the non-Amish world -- which might distract them from devoting their lives to God. The Amish do not connect their homes to the rest of the world through water, sewer, phone, or electrical lines. A farming culture, they do not drive cars or tractors, and use horse driven carts to take crops to market. Many view the culture as stuck in the 1800s. Despite this living style, most Amish families now have one or more cell phones, recharged by individual power generators on their property.
I wonder if the Amish talk on the phone while driving their buggy? ¶ 12/26/2007
