GPS Taxis and In-cab eCommerce — Boon or Boondoggle
My friend Yuga recently wrote on something that’s becoming big business here in the Philippines … in-cab ecommerce. Interactive business opportunities while stuck in airport traffic. This has been a big bone of contention in the US for years … in some cities cab drivers have even gone on strike… forgoing all their income in a (so far) vain attempt to keep from making more income. I’m an American and a capitalist by birth and education .. I find this picture a lot harder to understand that the screen cap included in this blog post … even though it has a lot of Pilipno words in view.
The Philippines’ reputation is that of a ‘third-world” or “developing” nation … and as a permanent resident of the Philippines I guess I can agree that by many socio-economic standards this assessment may be true … but if you’re in the US (as most of my readers are) I would be really careful not to hurt myself patting myself on the back too enthusiastically.
the “SmartBro” offering in the picture is an internet service provider subsidiary of one of the country’s largest cell phone carriers. Both major carriers are part of a business family tree that traces to PLDT (Philippines Long Distance Telephone company), the former AT&T of the Philippines (and interestingly enough a company traded on the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) (PHI).
Is your Internet Service Provider (ISP) listed on the NYSE? Didn’t think so. If it is, is it currently carrying a Zachs “Buy” rating and paying $1.31 a share? Not likely.
Does your local telephone company or ISP even know how to market and install wireless internet access, even without a cable system or a phone line … or in a taxi? There are a few, in the US, but I can attest to the fact they are darn few indeed.
Can your cellular provider give to instant on-line banking on your cell phone so that you can just walk up to a checkout counter, text (that SMS message thingy) the amount to your online bank and get a return message that pays the merchant for your purchases .. like a debit card without the card?
We who “suffer along” here in the third-world have these sort of advantages and more … while there in the US, once the world’s center for science and innovation, people go on strike to avoid the prospect of earning more. Living in a foreign country I sometimes get to feeling a “stranger in a strange land”, but in the past few years as I have watched my own country shift continually from being the developer of cellular, wireless and Internet technology to new ways to market the NFL I have to say I’m a bit of a stranger in my own land as well.
Did anyone ever consider the fact that businesses don’t off-shore knowledge jobs because it’s cheaper .. but because the people in the distant lands know more about technology and innovation?