The Not-So Inclusive Web and Network Failure
Dawn Douglass recently asked the question, “How can the Web truly be “open” when only young white male geeks get to decide what the Web is?” I spend a lot of time thinking about technology. Every morning the first thing I do is pop open my feedreader to read all the incoming articles from all [...]
Read MoreWhat Journalism Can Learn from Zimbabwe
There are a million and one reasons why micro-payments won’t save journalism, but ultimately the most obvious is that we are living in a time where there’s an over-abundance of news media. Think about it, where did you watch the Obama Inauguration? Did you watch it on CNN, BBC, SkyNews, Al-Jazeera, Fox News, MSNBC or [...]
Read More20 Ideas for Social Entrepreneurs [Part 2]
![20 Ideas for Social Entrepreneurs [Part 2]](http://www.blackweb20.com/wp-content/themes/blackweb20/thumb.php?src=http://www.blackweb20.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/04/lightbulb.jpg&h=235&w=600&zc=1&q=95)
In the first half of this article I shared a few ideas for social ventures in emerging economies. Some of them I’m working on, some of them I’m not but regardless I don’t think it should stop others from trying. You’ll notice that some of these ideas don’t have examples because I’m not currently aware [...]
Read More20 Ideas for Social Entrepreneurs [Part 1]
‘If it will work in Africa, it will work anywhere.‘ That’s the new mantra among African tech enthusiasts thanks to Erik Hersman. With that in mind I’ve been brainstorming about ideas that I think would work exceptionally well in Africa. Since I’m only one man with way too much on his plate already, I thought [...]
Read MoreCan Freeconomics Work in African Markets? [Part 2]
![Can Freeconomics Work in African Markets? [Part 2]](http://www.blackweb20.com/wp-content/themes/blackweb20/thumb.php?src=http://www.blackweb20.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/03/ff_free1_f.jpg&h=235&w=600&zc=1&q=95)
Giving away saddles to sell horses. This is the basic concept behind the ‘free’ business models that I discussed in Part 1. You give away something (time, product, resources) with the intentions of selling something else to make up for it. From my vantage point, the African market is starting to adopt some of these [...]
Read MoreCan Freeconomics Work in African Markets? [Part 1]
I’m a big fan of the work of WIRED Magazine founder and editor Chris Anderson. His most recent book talks about the new economics of ‘Free’ (a.k.a freeconomics) and the shift towards giving away products, skills or services to sell complimentary products, skills or services. Here are examples of a few of the various ‘free’ [...]
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