Articles by Rob Katz
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Wednesday
July 19
2006PCs for the BOP? GlobalVoices Reviews MiPC
Lost in the ongoing debate about low-cost computers and the digital divide is Argentina?s MiPC (My First Personal Computer) program. Global Voices? David Sasaki nicely summarizes the ongoing debate over MiPC?s technology options (Intel and Microsoft exclusivity vs. AMD and Linux...
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Monday
July 10
2006Hot Topic: Mobile Phones and Africa
Mobile phones? impact in Africa has been a hot topic of late, on NextBillion and around the blogosphere. The Washington Post recently got into the game with an excellent article, ?In War-Torn Congo, Going Wireless to Reach Home,? that received front-page status in the well-read Sunday...
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Monday
July 3
2006Review: The Giving Back Awards
As I waited for my bagel to toast yesterday, I noticed the latest Newsweek perched in the WRI magazine rack. Normally, I flip to the Perspectives page, then to the Last Word column, and I?m done. Not this time. The cover story, ?The Giving Back Awards,? piqued my interest and won out,...
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- Education
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- academia
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Tuesday
June 27
2006India’s Model T: Tata’s $2000 Car Out by 2008
Update: Lee Schipper, Director of Research for WRI’s Center for Sustainable Transport, comments below on the implications of a low-cost car for India.A mass-produced, affordable auto revolution is coming to India. Or, as BoingBoing suggests, ?make way for the hundred dollar laptop of...
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Friday
June 23
2006$100 Laptop Now $140
Most of the news about the One Hundred Dollar Laptop has been positive ? and for good reason. It?s a great design project being done by some great designers (my father?s an MIT alum; I am required by birth to promo the place). There have, however, always been some lingering questions...
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Wednesday
June 21
2006How Big is India’s Base of the Pyramid Market?
Businesses interested in exploring base of the pyramid markets often ask for hard data: how many people? Where do they live? What do they spend money on? BOP pioneers CK Prahalad and Stuart Hart have done well for themselves and their ideas, as demonstrated by the success of their latest books....
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Monday
June 19
2006Cell Phone Banking and the BOP: Wizzit
Driving to Wolftrap this past Friday, a story on NPR?s Marketplace prompted me to turn up the volume ? the national business media was covering WIZZIT, a South African cell phone banking firm that NextBillion has covered extensively in the past. For the uninitiated, WIZZIT is a 1-year-old...
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Wednesday
June 14
2006Building Opportunity for the Majority: Day Two
The second day of ?Building Opportunity for the Majority? had an inauspicious beginning: I was told no coffee would be allowed into the auditorium, a change from the previous day?s policy and a potential threat to my productivity. The threat was averted by something much more powerful...
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