I'll Give You 2 Bits For Your 32-Bit Idea
Sometimes there is an unnecessary lag in the amount of time it takes for an idea or concept to be invented and the point at which it is implemented. One time-lapse stall involves the introduction of 32-bit personal computers in the mid 1980's which began to replace the then standard 16-bit computers. This new technology allowed for much improved memory handling and faster computing. Until that point, a large spreadsheet would have to be accessed pieces at a time from a disk drive or hard drive. You could not have the entire spreadsheet in front of you at once, which made it difficult to make changes and see how all of your data related to each other.A 32-bit computer allows the entire spreadsheet to be loaded onto the computer's working memory. The 32-bit chip first appeared in the average Macintosh computer in 1984 and PC compatible Intel 386 in 1985. However, the computers' operating software were still running at only a 16-bit capacity. Windows 95, which does utilize 32-bit formatting, appeared 10 years after 32-bit personal computers were available. An increasing number of software packages that run on Windows 95 are now 32-bit.
Civilization a Step at a Time
Usually there is a lag between the time it takes for a particular product or practice to reach the first and last person or population in the world. For instance, White-Out, a substance for correcting typed or written mistakes on paper has followed an interesting demand curve. Even though people in industrially advanced societies have computers and no longer rely heavily on the product, other parts of the world that do not have the same technology have rapidly began using it.This example is only part of the story and not the true significance of the time lapse stall. We are concerned about the long delay between the most advanced application being brought in and the last person to get it and utilize it. This time delay is usually at least 400 years. Part of this has to do with an economic stall--things start out expensive and must come down in price before many people can afford to use them. We need to consider a shift in thinking such that businesses' priority is the world market where this "last" person is actually taken into account and intended to be served more rapidly. This time lapse may still be numbers of generations long for a new product or service to reach, serve and be accessible to everyone. However, the importance is making progress faster as opposed to not at all.
Perceptions of how you develop these mass markets also impede progress. Too often, businesses do not focus enough on the demand side of things and are too cost-driven. They price too high and vastly underestimate the size of potential markets and they price their products as though they are going to be dealing with small markets when there really are huge markets. In short, this way of thinking must change.
Do Touch That Dial
Similar to the stall above involving White Out is the long time it has taken for radios to become widely available to people in rural Africa. Many villages do not have electricity and nowhere to buy batteries. "The lack of batteries in much of Africa makes portable radios of little use there," reads Donald McNeil's February 16, 1996 article in the "New York Times".Inventors of two different radios have adopted a new way of thinking about the problem. The "Freeplay" radio uses a special kind of crank that the listener winds up to give a half hour's worth of operating time. If the radio was played for 5-10 hours a day, it would save people $500 to $1000 in the cost of batteries in a three year period, the life expectancy of the product. If this continued for 400 years, battery costs would be $66,000 to $133,000. The Solar and Dynamo Radio is similar but also uses solar power in addition to a crank. Both radios sell for less than $40.
Already, people see the radios as useful in spreading information to people much more easily. For instance, political parties in Ghana want to use the radios to help spread their messages before an upcoming election. Trevor Bayliss, A scientist working to develop the Freeplay radio, was inspired by a radio program on AIDS in Africa that discussed the difficulties of spreading safe-sex messages people there who lived in remote villages. Bayliss still had difficulty convincing electronics companies of his radio's usefulness.
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