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FACEBOOK’S AIM TO connect the world has taken one of its biggest step forward after it launched its free mobile internet service in India.
Internet.org, CEO Mark Zuckerberg’s project to get the world connected, launched its app to a country which has a population of 1.2 billion. Roughly a billion people in India don’t have access to the internet and Facebook plans to change that.
In a post announcing the news, Zuckerberg said that while it aims to change that, it has a long way to go before it achieves this aim.
Today’s announcement is just one step towards changing that. People on the Reliance network in the states of Tamil Nadu, Mahararashtra, Andhra Pradesh, Gujarat, Kerala and Telangana will now have free data access to more than three dozen services. We have a long way to go to connect India. But I’m optimistic that by getting free basic services into people’s hands, more change can follow pretty rapidly.
Of the 150 million people across Africa and Latin America using internet.org, 6 million hadn’t a connection before it arrived.
India has become a significant market for some of the biggest companies in the world. Last year, Google launched Android One, its way of getting cheap smartphones into the hands of billions of users, while Facebook recently launched a scaled-down version of its mobile app called Facebook Lite, which is only 286k in size.
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Not as much since the kids were born. I do love a good book though!
@Brian Dunne: same as that Brian!
@Mrs Doyle: Who needs books when we have the comment section of journal.ie?
Far more entertaining than any book and the standard of writing is top class!!
@Justin Gillespie: ok!
@Brian Dunne: So read some *to* the kids!
My teenage daughter’s bookcase is stuffed with books, she absolutely loves reading. I’ve saved a fortune since we started going to a library.
@Mrs Doyle: Library’s are one of the great bastion’s of civilisation. Spent a lot of time in them during the last recession.
Always loved reading ever since I was a child. I can’t understand why some people don’t read books as they’re missing out on so much. Charity shops are brilliant for getting books for very little money.
I don’t count how many books a year but I definitely read every day…even if it’s just 5 minutes before sleep.
@Lesley Barclay: I am exactly the same. Always have a book on the go.
I use the Borrow box app via the library for audiobooks in the car or for walking. You may have to reserve and wait a few weeks for a newer book but it’s an excellent service.
Usually have 2/3 more on the Kindle as well. I love them but I haven’t really gone back to physical books since lockdown.
@Sara McS: I love Borrowbox. I use the App for audio books when I’m cooking or to send me to sleep!
@Sara McS: I have a kindle and really loved it, especially when going away on holidays, but of late I’m back to the real book, and must say I do prefer to have the feel of the real thing.
I always have a book or two on the go.
Clonmel library is just Awesome, and staff so so helpful.
Every time I pick up a book, the whole house decides they need to talk to me lol
@Anna Carr: ….She mused to herself, with an almost wry smile raising itself upon her face as she lowered the book to her lap. ‘Ill just finish this paragraph’. But again the questions came: ‘What ya doing? Good book? – what’s it about??’. ‘Everytime’, she heard herself saying to herself. Will I ever finish this book’?
I’m about halfway through the 750 books I own!
Read 3/4 days a week sometimes only for 15/20 minutes though. Probably get through 20 plus books a year. Majority on my kindle, I like to get books at Christmas though.
I’ve been re-reading the Miles Davis autobiography for the past few years, but a lad down the pub just sent me the Barrytown Trilogy because he thought I should be ashamed of myself that I hadn’t read it, so that should keep me busy for the next few years.
Give me the company of books over people, any day! You can trust a good book. People? Not so much, in my experience.
@Sean May: Touched a nerve ….
Recently bought a new kindle. I’ve actually started reading again. It’s only a few minutes before bed, to wind down, but I try and do it every night. It means less time on my phone right before trying to sleep, which is a good thing.
Where’s the slot for two or three a week?
Used to spend a fortune on books, but bought a kindle for economic reasons. Unfortunately price difference between printed books which I prefer and the price on kindle is a massive difference. I would rather support a local book shop, but the cost is the problem. Can understand the author and publisher ,the shop must benefit from the sale, but the price can’t compare with kindle.
Wilbur Smith was my favourite author. One could almost smell the elephant s#/t he was so descriptive of Africa.
I read the Beano and pass it on to a lady who gives it to her young nieces. I used to read Mad magazine and miss its demise. Alfred E. Neuman’s catch line What me Worry? is also my philosophy. I miss the Dandy with Lord Snooty and his pals. Posh mags like the New York Review of Books I can only get occasionally if I visit a certain shop in Dublin. From a local grocery shop I can buy Ireland’s Own – the week wouldn’t be the same without it. I borrow bewks from the local library.
How are you supposed to get to sleep without reading your book? Ken Follett, Hilary Mantel, Philippa Gregory…… brilliant escapism while learning history at the same time
A few a year. Bravo Two Zero by Andy McNab: BRILLIANT!
The poll would be better if we distinguished between paper and audio books. I find lots of books only work for me in one format but not the other.
@Des Ryan: it asks how often you “read” a book, not much reading to an audio book
Since I have a kobo reader I have read over 1600 books and still reading! My kobo goes every where with me and the price to buy a book is low enough that I don’t feel the need to buy less! It is fantastic!
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