This last week has been a challenge for this newbie blogger. The boss sent us on one of those Team Bonding Workshops which are normally held on remote locales with as much distance from modern conveninces as possible. The resort in question is located next to one of the Seven Forks dams where internet connection is still a pipe dream. There was intermitent cellphone connectivity and my prefered option for GPRS (Celtel was not available at all) so I was stuck with the bitter option which just went a long way to increase my misery.
One of the biggest challenges to engaging in any form of e-activity in the country side is virtual non-existence of internet connections. For the lucky few such as I who have the good fortune of working with a company that can afford a VSAT connection I can afford to post occassionally, although the employer in their infinite wisdom decided to put in a firewall which restricts our workstations from accessing the internet outside the corporate intranet, however there is one PC for all the employees to share which of course limits the time you can spend on line. So what are the options left available for a rural blogger.
- Dial up? Sorry but it is not even worth talking about Telkom Kenya they are the ultimate corporate failure in Kenya..
- Leased Line? Don't even think about it.
- GPRS? Available but you are advised to restrict yourself to text otherwise you will just be watching your credit vaporise in seconds and you need a very good phone.
- WAP? Crap!
- Cyber cafe? Nearest cybercafe is like 40 Kms away and the connection speeds are atrocious to say the least, I have seen a computer take 5 minutes to load the google webpage.
- Telkom Wireless? I was excited to hear that CDMA is going countrywide but to my horrer I found out that they are charging 3 bob per minute. This is daylight robbery and I don't believe it is fair to charge for internet connectivity per minute since you end up paying more when the service is poor.
- Hotspot? hehehe! this is just for a laugh.
- WiMax? I'm just dreaming right:-)
My take on this matter is that it is high time a deliberate effort was made by the policy makers to make it easier for us disadvantaged rural folk to join the e-community perhaps by providing subsidides or tax holidays and other incentives to companys that are willing to invest in providing ICT services out here in the sticks.
RED DELIGHT
To all the ManU haters out there yesterdays performance at Bolton should make you realize that we are well on our way to reclaiming the league honours and we are having a hell of a good time on our way there. Christiano and the Roo were so outstanding and their chemistry is impressive. I am crossing my fingers on the FA cup and Champions League the prospect of a treble is now looming larger but in the mean time let me just enjoy the ride.
