There is an ufolding technological tragedy in the Subcontinent which has its source in our inability to use new information technology because of the language barrier. This retards social and economic growth drastically, but there seems little concern in each of the South Asian countries and regions.
There is an ufolding technological tragedy in the Subcontinent which has its source in our inability to use new information technology because of the language barrier. This retards social and economic growth drastically, but there seems little concern in each of the South Asian countries and regions.
The English-speaking upper crusts of South Asia are mostly computer-literate, and this gives them (us, reading this magazine) the false sense that the machines are in use all over, in business, publishing, administration, education, household use, and so on. In fact, only a tiny fraction of computer-aided number crunching and data retrieval is a reality in South Asia. You have to know English to be able to sit before a computer, which immediately takes computers out of reach of more than 95 percent of South Asians.
Until computers can be brought down from the rarefied elevations of English-speaking South Asia and into the ´vernacular´ gullies and mohallas, they will continue to remain hightech toys. The price of hardware is falling and costs are no longer the barrier they once were. The real obstacle is language.