Microsoft Survey: Kiosk Usage In Rural India

According to a 120 day tracking of 13 kiosks in Maharashtra and Uttar Pradesh, using their Vibelog software, the following is the break-up of kiosk usage:

Agri business: 2%
Reading newspapers online: 23%
Email: 19%
Examination results: 15%
Pornography: 13%
Sports: 7%
Search Engines: 5%
Music: 4%
Job sites: 3%
Misc: 9%

More details, particularly on offline usage, here at the Hindu Business Line.

Should just 13 kiosks be considered to be a good enough sample size? I don’t think so. What I find interesting is that 23% of time, the kiosks were used for accessing news. While travelling through rural India, one comes across newspapers that contain news that is a day or two old, so real-time news must be quite a novelty. With time, I think the need for agri business information and for entertainment will take over. Also, according to the report the software extensively tracked usage, so did MS take permission from those using the kiosks? The report doesn’t say. Expect the stats to change drastically over time – harvesting season should logically see a spurt in business information being sought. Once local language search engines develop (or once the users are informed of their existance), search engine usage should increase.
Related:
Rural Broadband Connectivity Initiatives – BSNL and Microsoft
Telecom Numbers From Rural India
Microsoft, IDRC Partner To Invest in Rural Content/Software Development

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