Article Review- Technology and Communication

Link to Article: http://ezproxy.adrian.edu:2051/hottopics/lnacademic/

Name of Article: New Africa Special: From Farming to Films, How the Web is Changing Africa

Author: Juliet Ehimuan

Found on: LexisNexis

Published: 8/26/2012

Summary:

In the article "...How the Web is Changing Africa", the author discusses how, in the past 5 years, Africa has managed to go from being a virtual "Dark Country" - called that due to its lack of any advanced technology- to being one where WiFi and other advanced technology is much more common.

One of the statistics given was that "In 2001, a sim card coast approximately $100... By 2009, you could buy a sim card for $1.33". This is something I found astounding... in less than ten years, a piece of technology that was almost unattainable for the vast majority of the population, to being close to ten times less expensive, and probably more affordable to ten times the number of people it was originally.

In addition to mentioning how technology is helping farmers - a potato farmer was able to find out why his plants were dying fast and was also able to track prices of crops like his so that he could be more competitive in the market.

Not only is the growing technology available in Africa helping farmers, as well are ordinary people remain connected to those outside of their immediate area, but it is helping to hold people in power responsible for their political wrong-doings.

Finally, the growing technology is helping the outside world see what struggles Africa is having in a much more immediate way. This, in turn, helps provide Africa with the aide it so desperately needs from the outside world.

Strengths of Article:

I thought the article was very concise in the way it was written. The author didn't embelish or use unnecessary text, just got straight to the point.

Another thing I liked was how she organized it. By beginning with a mention to the farmer who overcame a hardship as a direct result of the growing technology, the author catches our (or, at least my) attention, and makes me want to read on.

Weaknesses of Article:

The author doesn't include very many facts and numbers... a few here and there, but for the most part, it's just her writing. I am someone who needs those numbers or statistics. I think if there were more statistics in the article, I would have liked it much more.