As frustrating as India can be with regards to lack of infrastructure, there are some cool items that I’ve been able to take advantage of while on the road.
Most notably is the fact that for less than $1/hour, I can access (when the power isn’t down) the internet and, if I time it right, can chat with Jon on either gmail chat or through Skype. This has been my first experience using Skype and I’m thinking, “What have I been waiting for?????” It’s cheap, super easy, and awesome to be able to actually SEE the person you’re “speaking” with a half a world away.
This is a screenshot of us chatting while I was in Calcutta.
I also found that phone calls from the “STD” booths around the country made it super cheap for me to call the U.S – somewhere between 12 and 25 cents a minute.
Portable phone booth in the middle of a Delhi street.
Travel Well!
You can also read about my India travels on my blog at the Seattle Post Intelligencer.
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ameyer13 says
I have seen some pretty cool technology when traveling overseas but nothing beats what I have seen recently. I work for Dish Network and they keep me traveling a lot which is fine but sometimes it get’s a little stressful when I’m considering what I’m missing at home and the loneliness starts in. I recently came across a little distraction and crazy cool media technology in the form of a mobile couch, I call it now. I acquired a Dish Sling Adapter which gives me access to all my programming live from my package at home in the form of my Android. It’s unbelievable to be out and about getting things done and at the same time getting a little bit of home.