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Comment by rjd | Hacker News Reader

Oh excellent, he's planning to cure poverty and hardship is he? I hate to break it to him but right now there are people who sleep on the picnic bench outside of the ISP I work for which streams free wifi to anyone near the office. In the centre of the western world, in a well off country with strong social services... let alone the troubles the developing world has.

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I'm envisioning a cyberpunk future, where an internet connection is free and omnipresent, and computers are cheap enough to find in the trash. A homeless person kills time online and scrounges for money through online sweatshop labor, like gold farming or captcha breaking. He gets paid in bitcoins, which he uses to buy some food at McDonald's, using a NFC device that he found in the trash that links to his bitcoin wallet.

Poverty and connectivity are not mutually exclusive (and connectivity can yield huge benefits even to those who haven't yet escaped poverty). Just look at the history of mobile phones, especially in the developing world. I recall reading ~8 years ago* about fishermen in Indian villages who used their cellphones to figure out (while still out on the water) to negotiate prices with different buyers. More people in India have access to a cellphone than a toilet (which is a pretty decent heuristic for poverty).

*found the article: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/10...

Yeah, it was just the eutopian arrogance of the statement that ticked me right off. I watch those homeless people who can't even make it to the shelters and food banks due to substance abuse every other day from my desk. It hit a nerve with me that those people are treated as sub humans, the forgotten, and his statement precludes them from his little dream. Just a personal rant I normally try not to put online but this one got me for some reason, probably should of deleted after I had my knee jerk disgust at it :)

First off, I don't know how you could possibly read that into his message. With that aside, though, I feel the need to mention that perhaps the best way to help bring those in poverty up to a reasonable standard of living (basic health care, shelter, and food) is via education and training, both of which the internet can help with. Imagine two farmers, one of which lacks the internet. Which one will be more successful?

Because my bullshit detector went off when he was claiming 100% coverage. If you can't see the fact he's grand standing I don't know what to say. In near perfect conditions its not achievable let alone when the odds are stacked against people. Or are you forgetting the world is full of arseholes, war mongers, dictators, and centuries old hatred and conflict that often undermine efforts to improve other people. If that can be fixed in 10 I'll be well and truly surprised, hell if they even get proper phone networks, cell coverage, internet to rural communities in western nations I'll be mightily surprised.

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