October 10, 2003
Technoloy gets reinvented locally: Study
Geneviève Bell, Intel researcher, has spent the past two years travelling in Asia, to study how people are using technology and has found vast differences between East and West when it comes to what people actually do with their computers and mobile phones, reports the BBC.
"We see all kinds of local reinventions of technology," says Dr Bell, "whether it is people in China using their mobile phones to get the lunar calendar or people using the digital version of the Times of India newspaper matrimonial section to find a spouse."
"More importantly, mobile technology has been adapted to reflect the cultural priorities of each nation, such as their religious faith".
Why are mobile phones so successful? Dr Bell answers to this question are so logical and simple when she looks at Asia and says something I've never read before, yet it's so obviously right: "Cell phones are relatively robust, relatively small, you don't need a desk, you don't need to be a in particular place. And you don't have to be literate to use them or speak English. These are all constraints when it comes to operating a computer," she explains.
Dr Bell is due to complete her research for the chip maker Intel at the end of the year.
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