Message-ID: <adbeb1e1030210049ed6@[128.146.24.114]> Date: Tue, 14 May 1996 22:59:23 -0400 From: Antoinette Errante <mailto:aerrante@MAGNUS.ACS.OHIO-STATE.EDU> Subject: Re: Re[2]: Computers to Africa To: Multiple recipients of list DEVEL-L <mailto:DEVEL-L@AMERICAN.EDU>
At 8:51 PM 5/14/96, Chris Hodge wrote:>There is a great pressure here in the West to have the newest, the
>fastest, the most powerful. Word processing software that used to load
>on a single disk now require 16 disks -- no, they require a CD-ROM -- and
>they require more powerful, more expensive hardware to support this new
>software. Word 7.0 has more bells and whistles than my original
>WordStar, it is easier, and it does have some added features: but the
>quality of the work I do has not necessarily improved due to this
>technology. Perhaps it is colonialism to send old equipment to Africa,
>perhaps we are perpetuating the image -- the reality -- of backwardness
>that serves those of us in the West so well. But when we suggest
>shipping top of the line equipment, maybe we're also exporting the
>rampant consumerism that is literally consuming us here in the West.
>Perhaps that's more insidious.
I dunno, the last time I was in Mozambique and Guinea-Bissau, they seemed to be doing quite well on their own culitvating a demand for the best and the latest - even if Ministry secretaries maybe didn't need the same computer as an enginner. But the push was to purchase top of the line -regardless of whether all those extra whistles and bells would ever be used.
We send older model but functional computers to schools and training centers in the US all the time. They might serve similar educational functions in other countries . But it seems to me it defeats the purpose to to "instituionalize" old hardware/software for the same reason it's not a good idea - computers should keep pace with their function in a given environment. I guess I feel particularly strong about this with respect to telecommuications.
Antoinette Erante
Antoinette Errante Tel: (614) 292-3609 Assistant. Professor Educational Policy Fax: (614) 292-7900 & Leadership Ohio State University mailto:errante.1@osu.edu 29 W. Woodruff Columbus, Ohio 43210
****************************************************** É melhor ser alegre que ser triste; alegria é melhor coisa que existe É assim como a luz no coração Mas pr'a fazer o samba com beleza é preciso um bocado de tristeza Precisa um bocado de tristeza se não não se faz o samba não - Vinícius de Morães - ******************************************************