Monday - May 24, 2010
Last week YouTube celebrated its 5th birthday. Today it’s AOL, once known as America Online. Although it wasn’t the first online service, AOL’s proprietary content and gateway to the Internet transformed the Net into a mass medium. In millions of homes across America, the ubiquitous call of “You’ve got mail” could be heard as people logged on to check their messages.
A key to AOL’s success was the practice of carpet bombing its software to every home in the country. It was ceaseless, but effective. At my office, we used AOL discs for coasters, as a way to recycle the flood of unwanted CDs.
The company has had a bumpy ride, but is once again trying to reinvent itself. For nostalgia fans, check out the Washington Post’s timeline and slideshow of AOL history.
According to Nigeria’s online newspaper NEXT, the country’s Federal Executive Council (FEC) announced last Wednesday that it had approved N3.6 billion ($23.7 million U.S.) to be used for the purchase and implementation of computers and Internet and power infrastructure. But will it really happen?
Nigeria has long faced a wide array of problems over the years, including corruption, political strife, and unfulfilled promises. Prominent among Nigeria’s struggles has been the process of bettering the education system.
“It is a sector that is haunted by long-term neglect and seemingly unending crises that have left it more or less prostrate,” said Mike Ebonugwo in an article for allAfrica.com in 2008.
So when the FEC announced its plans to invest in Internet and technology in the classroom last week, many in the government expected a jubilant response. Yet the average citizen continues to be skeptical.
Commentor “Zainab” echoed the skepticism of others, saying: “[T]his is a clear and typical case of misplaced priorities by the Nigerian government. When most public schools lack basic infrastructure like desks, chairs and even classrooms and textbooks as some pupils and students sit under trees and sit on the ground, the government is talking about [I]nternet without addressing these basic problems.”
Other Nigerians raised questions about how the proposed technology would be powered. After all, Nigerians have long fought to push government to build a stronger and more reliable power infrastructure. The power issues facing the country were made even clearer two years ago, when the BBC reported that it would likely take $85 billion U.S. to provide stable power to most of the country’s 140 million residents.
“Nigeria is one country where power has remained problematic despite billions spent yearly, even as less endowed neighbors like Ghana, Benin boast of more regular power supply,” said Ikechukwu Eze and Alex Chiejina in a BusinessDay article published today.
Grassroots protests and discussion have even grown from the discontent, with the Light Up Nigeria movement taking on a global presence on Twitter. “The movement is demanding action from the Nigerian government and political office holders, both at the local, state and federal levels, to solve the power supply problem,” says the site.
The FEC made provisions for the placement of solar power stations to run computers and Internet architecture, but it wasn’t clear if the group had specific details on how such a power system would be deployed. The government was optimistic, however, that the program would change how Nigerians are educated.
“Under the program, each school will receive equipment and facilities that would link them to high speed Internet, and they would be encouraged to share these facilities with their surrounding communities on a commercial basis to support maintenance and ensure sustainability,” said Dora Akunyili, Minister of Information and Communication.
While many remain skeptical that the Nigerian government will come through with its ambitious 36-week project, non-profits like the Nigerian School Project continue to provide a variety of equipment and services to Nigerian schools. These types of organizations will continue to be vital to the youth of Nigeria as uncertainty about government-funded education initiatives remains.
Do you think Nigeria’s plans to implement broadband Internet and computers in the classroom will ultimately be successful? What other challenges exist to creating a better school system in Nigeria?
(Photo used under Creative Commons attribution license: http://www.flickr.com/photos/olpc/ / CC BY 2.0)
Friday - May 21, 2010
Yesterday a brazen burglar broke into the Museum of Modern Art (Musée d’Art Moderne) in Paris, making off with five modern masterpieces, valued at over $100 million. Among the haul are paintings by Picasso, Matisse and Modigliani. Two weeks ago, a Picasso painting set a record at auction, fetching $106.5 million, so the valuation may be low, IF a buyer can be found.
While the paintings are worth a fortune, the director of the Palais de Tokyo, a nearby art museum, thinks the thief made a big mistake. “You cannot do anything with these paintings… These five paintings are un-sellable, so thieves, sirs, you are imbeciles, now return them,” said Pierre Cornette de Saint-Cyr on French television.
Thanks to the Internet, billions of people around the world can see images of the hottest paintings on earth. But for those who don’t have Net access, we want to do our part to speed the return of these invaluable treasures. While ads on milk cartons have been used successfully in the United States to find missing persons, in France, I suspect, a champagne bottle might get better results. If you have any leads, let me (or Interpol) know. Salut!
