July 18, 2008
Anthropologists are a vital tool in developing mobile phones for the third world
In recent years, anthropology has witnessed something of a mini-renaissance. As our lives become exposed to more and more technology, and companies become more and more interested in how technology affects us and how we interface with it, anthropologists have found themselves in increasing demand. An interesting report from PCWorld.
"... Development anthropology is seen as an increasingly important element in determining positive and negative impacts on target communities. In the ICT sector – particularly within emerging market divisions – it is now not uncommon to find anthropologists working within the corridors of high-tech companies.
Intel and Nokia are two such examples. Just as large development projects can fail if agencies fail to understand their target communities, commercial products can fail if companies fail to understand the very same people. In this case, these people go by a different name – customers."
Two anthropologists often linked to in this blog are Jan Chipchase (Nokia) and Ken Banks (kiwanja.net).
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