If you’re reading this online, then obviously, you’re on the internet. How’s your connection? Do you rely on it?
My fellow blogger petrel41 tells us that slow or unreliable internet can be a real problem. People whose livelihoods are on the land, such as the North American flower seller quoted in that article, often need the internet these days.
Claire Curry at Plantwise tells us about Kenyan farmers sharing and exchanging knowledge by mobile information and communication technology (ICT). Another blogger, Rakshit Agrawal at GreenSky, tells us about Indian farmers accessing information by telephone and radio.
Clearly this is relevant to many farmers, growers and traders around the world. It’s relevant in rich countries as well as in poor or developing countries. Juliette Farside at the Guardian tells us how in many parts of Britain, rural broadband speeds are less than half of those in cities and towns. Jane Wakefield at the BBC asks, ‘When will UK rural areas get fast-speed fibre internet?’
Science on the Land 
I’ve heard that a ‘goal’ of the future is an internet structure everywhere. Free, a super-structure that covers everywhere. Some cities are trying to do that. That would be so much better (fair) than everyone scrambling to get their own internet service.
Yes it would be fairer, I think. Perhaps internet is becoming a need, instead of a luxury. If so perhaps it should be provided by publically-funded bodies (Governments, whether international, national or local) alongside other needs such as sanitation and healthcare.
Where have you seen discussion of the ‘goal’ of worldwide internet access?
give a google: Municipal wireless network
that would be a start.
Farmers are treated less worthy in every countries; as the corporates are taking the products from them to the market, most of them don’t want the farmers to use and explore the fact in enterprising and exploring their products. I think this was the main fact that the internet connection is preferably slow and only some developed countries taking this into account.
You may be right about this. I don’t know where you are, but here in Britain it’s quite noticeable that farmers are looked down on. With one another, rural people have plenty of self-respect. But city people sometimes seem to regard farmers as inferior.
In academia I notice a real snobbery about agricultural science.
Reblogged this on GreenSky and commented:
Thanks Sam from bringing up this post. It is a prominent fact that just “internet” doesn’t mean access to solutions. Today we can’t imagine working on internet with that dial-up speed we had when we were kids. Solutions are built with an assumption of having internet. But measuring the infrastructure in target zone is much more important. Just taking internet to rural areas doesn’t mean development. It is important to ensure it works well enough to serve the purpose.
It’s true. Some of the websites with content which, I think, might interest people in developing countries, are the websites with the most fancy graphics and animations. It’s often quite irrelevant content. Even here on a good broadband connection I find that frustrating. I dread to think what it would be like on a dial-up connection, esp if I were in an area with unreliable phone lines or electricity.
No doubt it’s possible to turn off the extra content but you’d need better IT skills than I have, better than a farmer might have in a poor country. Somebody who can raise good food from difficult land is an expert, but perhaps, not an IT expert.
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Hi Sam.
Blogging after a long gap. Posted a continuation of this rural internet issue.
It’s good to read you.
Thanks 🙂