This is a hypothesis. I don’t know if it’s true or how to rest it.
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Not trickle-down, cost-down. Entirely different economic dynamics that don’t rely on good intentions.
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Not saying it's necessarily an example of successful tech, but what about stuff like OLPC? Might break down along "people need this to live, so exploit their need & claim to benefit them" and "this is actually meant to benefit them" products What examples do you have in mind?
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That’s actually the example I had in mind. Patronizing tech basically.
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Almost as if the people funding the tech VC firms don't want to help poor people at all

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Most tech “designed for the poor” tends to be by well-intentioned nonprofit or public sector efforts. The private sector stuff tends to be either outright predatory like payday loans, or high-grading driven. VC money rarely directly targets low-income markets.
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Clever line
Yeah something like that. Essentializimg effects.
End of conversation
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What’s the dynamic that “keeps them poor”? For OLPC, is it training on the wrong software ecosystem? Or taking the place of some other kind of product? Something else?
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I don’t have a theory or argument yet. That’s why it’s just a hypothesis.
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