World Hungry For Technology

David Kirkpatrick writes that the entire world is hungry for technology. He observes that in coming years we will see an explosion of new technologies for broadband, for mobile computing, for education and health care - and the first place in the world many of these will take root will be in developing countries where there is no legacy system problem, no installed base - just a huge mass of hungry eager people. The next five years will be the beginning of a golden era for technology to empower the poor.

I agree. The developing markets shall be the engine of world growth.A casual observation of some notable trends would confirm this. IDC data suggests that the US accounts for a smaller percentage of global PC sales. 66 million of the 226 millions sold globally in 2006.

Motorola’s Padmasree Warrior points out that the mobile will be the first "computer" that billions of people will use in the next 10 years. The sheer volume and growth of mobile device usage will do a lot to balance the connectivity equation that the PC could only dream of. A lot of the functions we see in other portable devices are now getting incorporated into "the device formerly known as the cell phone". The phenomenal growth rate of mobiles in china and india are mingboggling. They each add connectivity every month equivalent to the subscriber base of a Denmark or Finland. The mobile phone has now surpassed bicycles as the number one selling consumer device in India. No wonder Vodafone is considering acquisition of the fourth largest mobile service provider for what insiders claim to be more than US$16 billion. Studies show that 36% of Internet users are now in Asia and 24% are in Europe. Only 23% of users are in North America and Asia would be adding more internet subscribers in the days to come. The impact of wireless, next generation communication hubs, politics surrounding Ipv6, Icann, explosion of content in asian languages- all these need to be factored in while discussing the future of internet. There is no doubt that the world is becoming a different place. Education, technology & capital are becoming the biggest equalizers in this unequal world.