trendwatching: mobile phones and biomimicry
In this trendwatching podcast, Cathi Bond points to this story up at Gizmag, which suggests that there are enough cell phones in circulation for one of every two people in the world. Cathi wonders, then why, in North America at least, does it seem like no one’s answering their phones anymore?
Meanwhile, Nora Young points to this example of biomimicry discussed by the Toronto Star: fan blades that are quieter and more energy efficient thanks to modeling their design on the flippers of humpback whales.
March 16th, 2008 at 10:30 pm
Hi Ladies! Love the podcast.
Yes Cathi, cell tech has transformed the developing world. The infrastructure is relatively cheap and everyone is running around with cheap phones (maybe some of them are our old cast-offs). I do some charity work in Guyana (with your cousin Janet) and it is very disturbing when a ‘needy’ person answers a cell phone in our free clinic!
Keep up the great work!
March 24th, 2008 at 11:05 am
Thanks Dave!
How much do you know about the kinds of bandwidth that they have? What I find curious is the idea of a competition between fibre optic land lines and broadband wifi.
Good for you guys going to Guyana. Are you an opthomologist (sp?? er - eye doc as well?
March 27th, 2008 at 6:56 pm
I’m not sure how large the cell pipe is but there are internet cafes that run on the cell system and appear not all that slow. Nothing like the fiber to the curb that you TO folks have.
Janet and I were in the same class….been buds forever. Guyana is all about the rum!