By looking at their map of mobile data cost [0] across the world I understood something that I find annoying in many apps.
Whenever there's a big file to download/upload the app will not download it unless I'm connected to a WiFi network. There's often a hidden settings that can disable this but I never understood why WiFi was considered a better choice for big file downloads.
Very often my 4G network is faster than the WiFi I have access to and with 100Go of data (for 20€) each month it's basically unlimited.
You sound like you're very young and only joined mobile internet in the past year, but I'll bite: not long ago pretty much all mobile internet was metered, that is, you had for example a 1 GB / month rate limit, after which every 100MB would cost you additional money on your already expensive monthly subscription.
So people were careful with using mobile internet, there were stories about people who forgot to turn off mobile internet and had to pay hundreds extra, or people who used a lot of mobile internet by accident abroad, racking up bills in the thousands. Apps that had bigger downloads would often be on the arse end of complaints about high data rates, so it became a UX pattern to warn or disallow big downloads over mobile internet.
4G / higher bandwidth and government legislation (the latter notably in the EU) finally put a stop on that, only two odd years ago (if that). But, there's still plenty of countries without 4G, good internet backbones, and who still do metered connections. Even wired connections, notably in the US which seems years behind in terms of internet infrastructure in some areas.
Oh yes; in North America the data pricing is far inferior - and in Canada it's particularly atrocious.
It's partially the population distribution; we have a paltry 35mil people in the 2nd geographically largest land area in the world. Now, much of the population is clustered, but still - infrastructure is spread out, expensive, and the cost gets passed down. Plus the competition is sparse and companies like their profit if they can get it.
In short, none of us would historically dream of downloading large stuff through mobile data. My data roaming is permanently off, and I only download through wifi. Some people even have phones with no data plans, or a paltry 50MB. 1GB was considered extra large data plan until recently.
(As a tangent, it's also been a historically painful process just to get started here too; in Europe, I'd land, go to the nearest shop, get a SIM card for $20, and I'm off to the races. In Canada, you need to sign a long term contract with 3 years of obligations, go through a credit check, give ethem all sorts of personal info, and pretty much blood and DNA samples... ;-( )
It's a discrepancy people have been waking up to last couple of years and starting to exert pressure, so it's getting better - but very very very slowly.
It's nuts, isn't it? But while many of us have "unlimited" data as a practical matter after the first single digit GB in the month the data are heavily throttled.
It'll take video-capable unmetered cellular data to the NA market to reign in the out-of-control pay TV/CATV industry. Can't happen fast enough.
My first mobile data plan (which was over a decade ago) had a monthly allotment of 1GB. One big file could wipe out a quarter of my mobile data usage for the month. So it's polite not to download large files over mobile data without asking.
Data costs in the US tend to vary quite a lot from place to place - it's a big country with pretty bad infrastructure across most of its area, especially the less-populated places - but yes, that's the reason.
> Smartphones and social media are, for many in the second half, arenas with a semblance of privacy. While Western internet users fret about the privacy implications of big tech companies hoarding their data, young internet users in the towns and villages of the developing world are delighted to have, for the first time, a way to communicate and express themselves away from the prying eyes of family, neighbours and other busybodies. In Asia and the Middle East smartphones open up a world of romance, enabling people to flirt and date despite social constraints.
Couldn't agree more. Privacy is defined by each person based on what they'd like to do but can't.
You could argue that the pursuit of leisure created Silicon Valley as we know it. Atari was a gaming company. Apple's founders cut their teeth there. And the Apple II was largely bought because it supported games. I think this is one sense of Paul Graham's saying that toy problems are at the origins of great companies. Creativity driven by the sense of fun.
I think about the technical feat accomplished by Blizzard when they created World Of Warcraft. So much time, effort, money, and great minds working so that you could walk around in a virtual world with your friends.
You could argue that the pursuit of leisure created pretty much every business that ever existed. We create businesses to either deliver leisure, or automate things that aren't leisure.
Leisure is one thing but mindless consumption is another. I worry about the future of the world's societies as they venture further and further into a state where consumption of media becomes the ultimate goal of life.
> The other, crucial aspect of understanding the second half is that seemingly unlikely things can have value. When you call an Indian mobile phone, it is not uncommon to hear a song instead of the traditional ringing tone. That song, a “caller ring back tone” in the jargon, is chosen by the user you are calling, who pays for the privilege. Until the rise of smartphones and social networks, caller tunes were a big money-spinner for Indian mobile operators, contributing 82bn rupees in revenue in the three years to March 2012. All this for music only others would hear.
> The urge driving people to pay a monthly fee for something they do not themselves consume is self-expression, which may be a key to coming up with new sustainable business models for the low-income internet.
So interesting how seemingly the same technology evolves or gets used differently around the world.
Also anyone else find this article annoying to read?
The poor do not see it that way. Years of fieldwork across the globe have led Ms Arora to conclude that when it comes to getting online, “play dominates work, and leisure overtakes labour.” Where people planning development strategies imagined, metaphorically at least, Blackberries providing new efficiencies and productivity, consumers wanted the chat, apps and games of the iPhone. Worthier uses tend to follow. But they are the cart not the horse.
Surely that hasn't surprised these planners all that much? My first thought when I got a bicycle as a teenager wasn't "Gosh, I'm going to get to school so efficiently!" it was "Weee!"
[+] [-] volent|6 years ago|reply
Whenever there's a big file to download/upload the app will not download it unless I'm connected to a WiFi network. There's often a hidden settings that can disable this but I never understood why WiFi was considered a better choice for big file downloads.
Very often my 4G network is faster than the WiFi I have access to and with 100Go of data (for 20€) each month it's basically unlimited.
But from the map 100Go would be $1237 in the US ?
[0]: https://www.economist.com/sites/default/files/imagecache/640...
[+] [-] Cthulhu_|6 years ago|reply
So people were careful with using mobile internet, there were stories about people who forgot to turn off mobile internet and had to pay hundreds extra, or people who used a lot of mobile internet by accident abroad, racking up bills in the thousands. Apps that had bigger downloads would often be on the arse end of complaints about high data rates, so it became a UX pattern to warn or disallow big downloads over mobile internet.
4G / higher bandwidth and government legislation (the latter notably in the EU) finally put a stop on that, only two odd years ago (if that). But, there's still plenty of countries without 4G, good internet backbones, and who still do metered connections. Even wired connections, notably in the US which seems years behind in terms of internet infrastructure in some areas.
[+] [-] NikolaNovak|6 years ago|reply
It's partially the population distribution; we have a paltry 35mil people in the 2nd geographically largest land area in the world. Now, much of the population is clustered, but still - infrastructure is spread out, expensive, and the cost gets passed down. Plus the competition is sparse and companies like their profit if they can get it.
In short, none of us would historically dream of downloading large stuff through mobile data. My data roaming is permanently off, and I only download through wifi. Some people even have phones with no data plans, or a paltry 50MB. 1GB was considered extra large data plan until recently.
(As a tangent, it's also been a historically painful process just to get started here too; in Europe, I'd land, go to the nearest shop, get a SIM card for $20, and I'm off to the races. In Canada, you need to sign a long term contract with 3 years of obligations, go through a credit check, give ethem all sorts of personal info, and pretty much blood and DNA samples... ;-( )
It's a discrepancy people have been waking up to last couple of years and starting to exert pressure, so it's getting better - but very very very slowly.
[+] [-] howard941|6 years ago|reply
It'll take video-capable unmetered cellular data to the NA market to reign in the out-of-control pay TV/CATV industry. Can't happen fast enough.
[+] [-] milankragujevic|6 years ago|reply
[+] [-] Nursie|6 years ago|reply
I have (really) unlimited 4g data. But I can't download a system update until I'm on wifi?
Thanks Motorola...
[+] [-] astura|6 years ago|reply
[+] [-] Qwertystop|6 years ago|reply
[+] [-] nindalf|6 years ago|reply
Couldn't agree more. Privacy is defined by each person based on what they'd like to do but can't.
[+] [-] blueyes|6 years ago|reply
[+] [-] jpmoyn|6 years ago|reply
[+] [-] amelius|6 years ago|reply
[+] [-] davidivadavid|6 years ago|reply
[+] [-] ptah|6 years ago|reply
[+] [-] zcid|6 years ago|reply
[+] [-] OJFord|6 years ago|reply
> The urge driving people to pay a monthly fee for something they do not themselves consume is self-expression, which may be a key to coming up with new sustainable business models for the low-income internet.
So interesting how seemingly the same technology evolves or gets used differently around the world.
[+] [-] _udy5|6 years ago|reply
Also anyone else find this article annoying to read?
The poor do not see it that way. Years of fieldwork across the globe have led Ms Arora to conclude that when it comes to getting online, “play dominates work, and leisure overtakes labour.” Where people planning development strategies imagined, metaphorically at least, Blackberries providing new efficiencies and productivity, consumers wanted the chat, apps and games of the iPhone. Worthier uses tend to follow. But they are the cart not the horse.
[+] [-] ehnto|6 years ago|reply
[+] [-] gumby|6 years ago|reply
Annoying in what way?
[+] [-] heshiebee|6 years ago|reply
[+] [-] zcid|6 years ago|reply