I have a Droid. Not R2D2. The phone [it was a gift]. It’s an awesome phone that does about everything. I would venture to say it’s probably the most advanced phone out there at the time of this writing. Do I absolutely need such an extravagant phone? Probably not. I’d like to mention a few of the benefits it has to others.
Yes, people that have fancy gadgets can be the target of attacks from humanitarian groups. “The money spent on that [fill in the blank] could have fed [X number of =orphans]” True, but I see another side of the coin. By buying gadgets and supporting the companies that make them, one eventually helps those in need. As companies sell more products, the old ones become cheaper. What was state of the art technology 20 years ago is now something that is cheaply produced and spread globally.
Today, mobile phones are becoming ubiquitous around the globe. We were able to hear and see of the events in Iran thanks to video captured on mobiles and texts and tweets sent out. Even war torn Somalia has a thriving mobile phone market. As history has shown, the ability to send information quickly tends to lead towards greater freedom and prosperity. [How would the protests at Tiananmen Square been different if the victims had phones?]
Phones are just one example of this benefit. Remember when flat panel TVs were $10,000? I know I didn’t buy one then, but some people did. Now they’re just a fraction of that price. We are beginning to see the spread of many affordable technologies [think One Laptop Per Child campaign] that are going to help the less fortunate. All of this is possible thanks to the companies that produce them and the early adopters that are willing to drop the big bucks.
