we need to talk about india
In India, more people have access to a smartphone than a toilet - roughly 85% live in a household with a smartphone, while about 81% have access to basic sanitation.
While this website is a sort of meta-commentary on rethinking our relationship to smartphones, it’s important to acknowledge the undeniable opportunities these devices provide. A population with widespread smartphone access can tap into services like digital banking and online education, and has more business opportunties. Governments can also leverage these networks for regulatory oversight and to improve their delivery of public services. [1]
This wouldn’t be phone-less without some questions: when do smartphones benefit an economy, and at what point do their benefits plateau (or even diminish)? If access to smartphones - and more importantly, the tools they support that have spurred better infrastructure - has already been widely adopted, what comes next to continue driving growth and, more importantly, happiness? What economic indicators can help us determine when tools no longer provide the benefit they catalysed in a nation - that it might be time to replace them? What should those new technologies look like?
[1] The aggressive marketing strategies that allowed India to reach this level of connectivity raises important questions. Jio (a major telecom provider) disrupted the market in 2016 whe they offered nearly free mobile data. This strategy rapidly increased smartphone adoption and internet access across the country, which happened to coincide with Prime Minister Modi’s re-election campaign which emphasiesed a “Digital India” initiative.
There’s no evidence that Jio’s offer was intended as political support. Nevertheless, the company captured a significant share of the market through these aggressive pricing tactics, undoubtably accelerating nationwide smartphone adoption in the process. Again, so much so that today, more people in India have access to a smartphone than a toilet!