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Google Gives Ugandans Tips on Sex and Weather Via Text

by Leila Brillson on June 30, 2009 at 05:18 PM

Many emerging nations have cellular access, but Internet service is still fleeting, especially in Sub-Saharan Africa. In an attempt to disseminate information to Ugandans, Google has teamed up with African cell provider MTN to distribute information, free-of-charge, via text message to a culture that is text -- but not Internet -- savvy.

The program, which teams the American Web giant with the Grameen Foundation, will act like a simplified version of search, allowing farmers and residents to text information to Google and receive answers. Phone users could query about weather, farming tips, and even safe sex advice. Amina Nantume, a Ugandan woman, told the BBC that the service has helped her discuss the topic of sex with her daughters. She said, "I used to get embarrassed every time I sat with my daughters to talk to them about pregnancy."

The larger issue, of course, is the same with any text message-based inquiry; information is often too complex to be transmitted through SMS. The BBC reports that some answers are either ambiguous or off-base. However, it is at least a start for technology that manages to reach rural and impoverished families -- families who would never normally have the ability to search a database, much less use the Web as a resource. [From: BBC.co.uk]

Tags: africa, google, text message, text messaging, TextMessage, TextMessaging, top

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