People
keep asking me, “Dela why are you not on whatsapp”. Well aside
the annoying chain messages, my mom is on whatsapp. I remember the
first message I got from her, “Dela, I don’t like your profile picture”. My first reaction was shock, shock that my mom was on
whatsapp in the first place. The fact that she was complaining about
my profile picture wasn't a surprise. If you know my mom, you will understand.
I
had always considered my mom a technophobe and with good reason. It
used to be that any time she wanted to watch a movie, she would shout
for me and I would come connect the VCR to the TV for her. I liked
this arrangement because it gave me some sense of importance and
power. Any time I was upset with her for punishing me, I would change
the connection and go out to play just before she got back from work.
No video for her was her punishment for punishing me. That was long
ago before I grew a beard but I still took comfort in the idea. These
days she only calls me to send a mail to so so and so address for her
or to check her mail.
She
had now gotten a smartphone and was sending her own mail and sending
me whatsapp messages every other minute. She was now independent of
me and I didn't like that. As for my Dad, the least said the better. The old man had become such a big fan of technology that his
current phone is always nicer than mine. He had found a way to trade
his old phones for new ones and was always current. Signs of the end
times! Quite a few of my friends have complained about their now tech
savvy parents.
Parents and technology ππππ RT @KitoyesWorld: So just for this email from my dad .....ππππ pic.twitter.com/u50E3IF8GZ
— Efo Dela (@Amegaxi) April 6, 2014
People
in Ghana are becoming more tech savvy every day. Not as fast as in
Europe or America but they are getting there. Gone were the days
mobile phones were luxuries. Now they are necessities. I remember
when Vodafone, then OneTOUCH started selling SIM, they cost an arm
and a leg. My dad had to write an application and pay a lot of money;
he got his SIM card early because he knew someone who knew some. Now
a SIM card is so cheap even kids can buy them.
Then
came Hi5, then Facebook and all the many social media platform and
everywhere young people were visiting cafes to ‘like’ people’s
status and poke them. We’ve come a long way. Every serious business
has a website. Everyone and their mother has a blog. Everyday someone
is launching his mobile app. More people are reading Computer
Engineering and Computer Science in the University. Ghana 2.0 update
is on!
Still
the biggest challenge to even further tech development in this
country is cost. Recently Vodafone decided to put a limit on data
bundles. Previously, if you bought data for a month, you had
unlimited data till the month was over. Now, you have a certain
amount of data to use which could get exhausted before the month is
over. If you didn’t finish it before the months end, it would
expire and you had to buy new data.
Lots
of time, people have data but can’t browse or the internet is too
slow. This cuts across major the network providers. People are
constantly complaining about network outages. The ISPs do not
compensate you for your lost time.
There’s
nothing in the world more satisfying to today’s youth than free
fast WiFi. A very rare thing in this country. You should see the
unbridled joy on people's face when they get free and fast internet.
Another
challenge is the mistrust of all things new. The banks recently tried
to introduce an electronic payment system call Ezwich. This didn't
catch on very much because people just prefer to handle the real cash
even though the card is safer. I had an Ezwich card but could never
seem to find a shop that had the card reader to accept it.
If
you live in Ghana, you know that getting directions to anywhere is a
chore. Poor street naming means to get anywhere you need a popular
reference point. So you say something like, I'm going to Sytris
bookshop, it's near Papaye at Osu. Recently, I had to go to a
Blogging Ghana meeting at 37 Mensah Wood Road. I didn't know the
place so I entered the address into Google Maps, hailed a taxi and
showed the map to the driver. I know, silly me. All the driver kept
asking me was, “Please, where is it near?” I'm not a great map
reader but Google Maps' direction helped me direct the driver. On
arrival the driver said, I should have told him, “After Shiashi
take the right turn from Galaxy International”.
Our
current President is quite tech savvy. He prefers to read his
speeches from a tablet, has a twitter and facebook account and there
are quite a few selfies of him around the web. The website of the
presidency is updated often (though I'd like the see more information
there) and the other ministry seem to also update their sites
regularly. I remember under the previous president, I went to one
ministry's site and it hadn't been update in over two years.
The
most active politician on social media is the Honorable Hanna Tetteh. She's very active on twitter and replies as many of her
followers as possible. If only more of our politicians were like
her... sigh!
Ghana
2.0 update is on! Let's hope that we don't get the dreaded, “Download
failed at 99%”
MY FAVORITE GHANAIAN APPS:
Kasahorow
Keyboard:
Ghanaian languages have characters that do not appear in
the English alphabets so typing a sentence in Twi or Ewe on your
phone can be a problem. The Kasahorow keyboard which is available in
the Android Play Store (sorry iOS and Windows users) has all these
characters so you can type freely without having to replace Ι with 3, Ε with n, Ι with )or C, Ζ with f etc. It's free so you don't really have an excuse not to
have it if you are an Android user. Kasahorow is a twi word that
means, “Many Languages”.
Easy
Taxi:
EasyTaxi is a mobile app that as the name implies, make getting a taxi
easy. Rather than stand at the road side flapping your hands at taxis
as we do in Ghana, just get easy taxi. This app is available on iOS
and Android (No idea about on Windows Phone). Just log into the app
where ever you are and turn on your GPS and enter your destination.
The nearest easy taxi to your location will call you back and will be
with you shortly. I must admit when I first used the app I didn't
think the driver would arrive early. The driver arrived five minutes
after the request and I was a bit embarrassed because I wasn't yet
ready. The driver, Isaac, reminded me to wear my seat belt and we
left Kaneshie to Lashibi. Comfortable ride. When I was done with
whatever I went to do, I used the app again to get another ride back
home. Very convenient. Both taxis were very comfortable. It's was a
good experience and I recommend everyone to try it. For now Easy Taxi
operates only in Accra but I'm sure they will spread to other parts
of Ghana soon.
the Easy Taxi I took from Kaneshie to Lashibi
Animation on how to use Easy Taxi
There's an interview with the MD of Easy Taxi Gh here that you can read.
If there's an app or a Ghanaian technology you would like me to check out, you can write about in the comment box and I will check it out. Let me know what you find frustrating or pleasing about technology in Ghana.
