From: Randy S (cryofan@mylinuxisp.com)
Date: Wed Aug 06 2003 - 10:23:09 MDT
Amara Graps <amara@amara.com> said:
> Brett Paatsch
> >I have learned somewhat saddly that things take far longer than I
> >imagined that they would need to and that the reason that this is so
> >is that we are far less wise in the areas that matter than we often
> >give ourselves credit for.
>
> Yes... but I have learned that the planting of a few seeds and
> waiting can bring unexpected delights, that is, if your mind is in a
> suitable state to notice the result.
>
> Here's a flower that burst through my usual pessimism regarding the
> Internet.
>
> I have a friend visiting the Ol Doinyo Lengai volcano in Tanzania
> presently, and I was surprised last week to find messages from him
> in my emailbox giving me reports.
>
> "How are you able to send me email from there?," I ask (envisioning
> tents, and cooking pots and scorpions on the ground in barren,
> deserted places), and he writes the next day:
>
> "Arusha has HUNDREDS of Internet cafes: a local phone call costs
> $0.5/min, an international call is $3/min, while 30 minutes are
> $0.5. Two years ago, all of the Internet cafes were full of American
> tourists waiting for their safaris, this year Americans are staying
> away, and the Internet cafes are full of local people writing to
> their relatives around the world."
>
Interesting anecdote. The promise of income from tourism provided the
startup capital for the infrastructure, which is now taken advantage of by
the locals, who now provide the majority of the current revenue stream.
-- -------------- -Randy
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