Changing the South African mindset

[ebendl]

This is probably more a rant than concrete facts, but never the less...

What irritates me to no end is the fact that, most South Africans don't see Internet as a 'needed' tool. Internet in my experience has always just been ‘something that should be used when needed’ - for example, doing research or doing Internet banking in the evenings or sending an e-mail to grandma.

Sure, this is changing, but most people I try to convert to our struggle have the attitude of “wow, that’s nice of the ISP's in London to offer 20Mbps at R300, but Internet in South Africa's is just too expensive, so we use it only where necessary (such as weekends)”.

Okay, naturally, this comes from my father (who is getting out of touch with technology), but generally, we are not enough of an information technology orientated culture to spark any major changes. Maybe I feel this way only because I tried convincing him we should at least, for one month, purchase a 30GB ADSL account on top of our Telkom one before November, but then he asked “what would you do with 30GB? 3GB is enough, isn't it?”

How can we change this attitude? From what I can gather, Internet/broadband is quickly moving to an essential service in other countries, yet we still struggle away with dial-up/ISDN and Diginet, with *most* users content! I almost wish for the rest of the world to move to VOIP exclusively, or provide international software which can only be ‘hired’ over a broadband connection. Just to jerk our country into reality and force powers-in-charge to do something!

 

[Peter7]

ebendl I think the approach to inform people who aren't internet savy should change slightly. I find that if you introduce facts and information that directly impacts them, they budge. Appealing information like free phone calls with VOIP if broadband internet becomes affordable. How only 1.7 million people in SA of total pop. of 45 million have a phone line because of Telkom's pricing. How broadband is 5 - 6 times cheaper anywhere else on earth except SA because of Telkom's pricing. Internet aware appliances, like fridges and stoves to pull down recipes and order groceries online. There are so many applications out there that haven't been developed in this country yet, simply because of Telkom's throttle hold over telecoms in this country.

 

[mbs]

A common problem with which I concur exists, and most annoying, to say the least. One approach which I've found to work wonders, is to pick on a stream (radio, video or music) that has some appeal for the user (pick a jazz music station, for example, if you know that the user is a jazz music lover), and demonstrate the jerky and intermittent reception over a 56k dial-up. Then point out how it will be jerk-free and 'always-available' if using ADSL (and maybe even 24x7 if a 30Gb package is purchased). Has worked for me so far...

 

[ebendl]

I believe the problem with South Africans are that we accept the situation just to easily. But this subject has been discussed elsewhere, so I won't go into details.

Any other advantages of having a cheap and always on Internet connection? I like the idea of streaming-audio, VOIP and Internet appliances?

 

[ebendl]

Building up some ammo against non-believers.

 

[PeekNPoke]

I agree 100%. My brother just got a ADSL connection the other day, he was using a 56k dialup for (don't know) how long ... anyway ... we chatted on Skype and he asked me if I've read a particular document he was working on. I said no, so he suggested he'll bring this to me the next day on his memory stick, the document was almost 10Mb. I said, "why don't you just email me the doc?". After a slight pause he said "yeah sure". The next day I saw him he had to mention the mindset he had been in the last x years on the internet. To email somebody a 10mb document as an attachment was total unheard of and you’d probably p!@#!@s the living s@Q#@!t out of anybody if you did. To be connected to the internet was a speeding thing to do since you're paying for every second your online ...

That I believe is the culture we are stuck with in SA. It will take somebody the experience to do something they wouldn't normally do on a dialup to realize what broadband is really meant for. (Now I must just convince him to zip the doc's before emailing ... )

 

[JustinHarrison]

To awnser ebendl

This is a debate that has many facets and can be dissected and discussed from many different angles. I myself am a complete advocate of the Internet and Internet technologies.

I have written several books directly targeted at Internet technologies that have benefited my life and many of those I have coached through my work.

And example of this is one of my books (10 STEPS TO THE MOBILE OFFICE), teaches people that through Internet Technologies you can run virtually any business through a laptop from anywhere in the world.

I have coached doctors, attorneys, small business people, casino owners and even retirees just how connected one can be with a laptop and an Internet connection. The convergence of voice, data and interactive services is shaping the internet like we have never seen before.

I myself currently live between the USA, UK, Mexico and South Africa because I realized a long time ago I COULD. As a writer and Internet entrepreneur, there are no boundaries, and whilst traditional business will always exist, globalization and the Internet has changed our realities forever.

I truly believe that the future of our country lies in technology and hence my passion for ridding our society of the monopolies (both telkom and certain bad apples in government) that are quite simply restricting our growth.

South Africans as a rule have an incredible desire for Technology, the reason we are slow on the uptake is simple … our society has not been exposed to the full wonders of technology and as a result the need is not so great.

All our brightest ideas and technological inventions land up being sold overseas to societies that already have a calling for these solutions.

Take PayPal.com for example, most of the original code came from South African developers, the irony of it is that as a South African we cant open a full paypal account – and therein lies the proof.

Here is another example of the difference between South Africa and countries that have fully integrated technology in society.

When I am in the USA or the UK and I need to go somewhere, I jump online and look at a map (mapquest.com in the USA as an exmple) and within 5 minutes can type in where I am and where I am going and print out detailed directions. In South Africa we are still running around with map books and asking the oom at the post office!

So how do we encourage the uptake of technology, well it is simple. The progression is as simple as needing to take a dump when your bowels are full.

1.Get rid of the restrictions – this will encourage local technologies and development
2.Develop and encourage solutions that solve a need
3.Spread the word about this technology

….. BAM South Africa becomes a technological haven.

How am I so sure of this? It is simple, if I can show you how to solve a problem or fulfill a need in less time, at less cost and on your own steam… are you gonna listen?

Solutions promote themselves! – technology is a solution!

 

[Roman4604]

the irony of it is that as a South African we cant open a full paypal account – and therein lies the proof.

This has to do with the globally perceived risk profile of SA issued credit cards ... nothing to do with technology.

PS: Love the way the Internet fridge tends to pop up in conversation ... still haven't found an e-commerce enabled retailer that provides a fridge connection service/api/adpater.

 

[Peter7]

PS: Love the way the Internet fridge tends to pop up in conversation ... still haven't found an e-commerce enabled retailer that provides a fridge connection service/api/adpater.

Yep, not in this country with the broadband "problem" (aka Telkom).

http://www.lginternetfamily.co.uk/homenetwork.asp
http://www.whirlpool.com.au/WhatsNew/Internet_fridge.htm :

Capabilities of the Whirlpool fridge include:

• Connectivity with other appliances (for example ovens and microwaves)
• Recipe downloads (complete with automatic programming of ovens to pre-heat etc.)
• Refrigerator energy management
• Refrigerator self-diagnosis for repair purposes
• Refrigerator contents inventory (bar coding) for automatic ordering of items
• Internet access
• Virtual fridge magnets
• Family diary Technology for future applications including automated stock replenishment, family photo album and a link to home security and information systems are also currently being developed

Edit: LG's internet fridge has more features.

[snip]
....
- Built-in TV tuner for watching TV broadcasts
- Built-in MP3 player for downloading music
- Internet Radio for listening to radio stations
- Built-in video camera for taking still photos
- Built-in CCD camera
[/snip]

 

[JustinHarrison]

This has to do with the globally perceived risk profile of SA issued credit cards ... nothing to do with technology.

You are missing the point of this debate, that is … Technology that has been developed in South Africa or with South African skills is being sold overseas and very often does not ever serve the South African market at all.

This is NOT only because we have a small market in comparison to many other countries but, because the uptake rate in South Africa is a little on the slow side, which highlights the point made in the initial post of this thread by ebendl.

Paypal is but one example – and whilst I AM WELL AWARE that Paypal does not serve South Africa because of the credit card risk (not perceived – but proven).

The irony I refer to is that perhaps that would be different if Paypal was a South African company which could by all intense and purposes have been a reality, considering that we really did not need the yanks for the initial code and skills…. This is one example.

To drum the point home, we would use more of the home gown technology that we continue to sell off without using if we had an environment that was supportive of Technology initiatives.

IRONIC for a reason!

 

[krycor]

Unfortunately due to costs the internet as well as comunication as a whole is seen as a luxuary, plain and simple. reduce the cost and penetration/more internet use will come. when costs will come down though is another issue. Another thing is that in South africa i think the amount of peope becomming tech savy is now growing alot fast than before due to amount of people studying/working etc compared to before.