The next billion

Back in Hong Kong for a few days after a long flight back from Rhodes via Athens and Rome. The gods were obviously smiling as my suitcase arrived back with me despite two tight transfers.

Catching up on news and other blogs, I was intrigued with this piece on the China Stock Blog which quotes Intel chairman Craig Barratt on a trip to China saying "There are about a billion Internet users. The next billion aren't going to be city dwellers." He talked more about how affordable technology needed to be a key focus for opening up these new markets to technology.

In a similar vein, contentsutra.com asks Can India’s Largest Vegetable Market Really Go Online? It touches on some of the cultural issues that have to be addressed even if technical and pricing constraints can be resolved: "a large number of transactions are not billed, and traders would prefer things to remain that way", it says.