[kictanet] Taifa Laptop

Fri Aug 26 08:56:26 EAT 2016

Waithaka

I'm sure he didn't. To my point though is that I'm trying hard :-) to
debunk the myth of Comparative Advantage (The theory of *comparative
advantage* is an economic theory about the work gains from trade for
individuals, firms, or nations that arise from differences in their factor
endowments or technological prowess. In an economic model, an agent has a
comparative advantage over another in producing a particular good if they
can produce that good at a lower relative opportunity
cost or autarky price, i.e. at a lower relative marginal cost prior to
trade. One does not compare the monetary costs of production or even the
resource costs (labor needed per unit of output) of production. Instead,
one must compare the opportunity costs of producing goods across
countries. The closely related *law* or *principle of comparative
advantage* holds
that under free trade, an agent will produce more of and consume less of a
good for which they have a comparative advantage.

This theory needs to be rebooted or patches added to it.

I recommend we all read the HBR article - Pipelines, Platformsand the New
Rules of Strategy.
<https://hbr.org/2016/04/pipelines-platforms-and-the-new-rules-of-strategy>

Excerpts:-

Back in 2007 the five major mobile-phone manufacturers—Nokia, Samsung,
Motorola, Sony Ericsson, and LG—collectively controlled 90% of the
industry’s global profits. That year, Apple’s iPhone burst onto the scene
and began gobbling up market share.

By 2015 the iPhone *singlehandedly* generated 92% of global profits, while
all but one of the former incumbents made no profit at all.

How can we explain the iPhone’s rapid domination of its industry? And how
can we explain its competitors’ free fall? Nokia and the others had classic
strategic advantages that should have protected them: strong product
differentiation, trusted brands, leading operating systems, excellent
logistics, protective regulation, huge R&D budgets, and massive scale. For
the most part, those firms looked stable, profitable, and well entrenched.

Back to this issue of Taifa Laptops. My emphasis is that we now need to
think about building ecosystems. The hardware is a matter of course.
Consider it done! No discussions there! There really isn't any point
competing on a field that is already gamed against us. We need to change
the game to suit us. The notion that we need to follow the same path that
others have to achieve success I'm afraid is the stuff of Dinosaurs - and
we know what happened to them....

Our universities need to work hand in hand with industry and government to
become the epicentre of innovation and progress in Africa generally and
Kenya in particular.

This starts with policy as you have already intimated. With the right
policies, an unfair advantage (Yes, unfair advantage) we can move the
needle much further than behaving in silos. That's what the Japanese and
Koreans did. The only difference is that they did it in a world that wasn't
as connected as we are today. That's both an advantage and disadvantage.
The onus is on us to work on the advantages and mitigate the disadvantages.

But before all the above can happen Kenyan Society must reboot itself for
as long as we The People choose leaders who have no interest but their own
and are bankrupt of ideas and ideals we will continue to think that The
Taifa Laptop as it is currently configured is the best thing that happened
to us since sliced bread.

My two cowrie shells.

*Ali Hussein*

*Principal*

*Hussein & Associates*

Tel: +254 713 601113

Twitter: @AliHKassim

Skype: abu-jomo

LinkedIn: http://ke.linkedin.com/in/alihkassim
<http://ke.linkedin.com/in/alihkassim>

Any information of a personal nature expressed in this email are purely
mine and do not necessarily reflect the official positions of the
organizations that I work with.

On Fri, Aug 26, 2016 at 6:57 AM, Waithaka Ngigi <ngigi at at.co.ke> wrote:

> Ali,
>
> I don't think Daktari, if I could speak for him, is saying that we start
> with mediocre products. If anything, he says he's used the laptops and
> bought a lot more others for students. And they work.
>
> If you were to rewind computer history, what did IBM say about the first
> Apple Computer, Apple I.... a sub-standard toy that'll never amount to
> anything‎.
>
> 30 yrs later, Apple  trounced IBM to be come the most valuable tech
> company.
>
> Not too long ago, what did BlackBerry say about the first Android Version
> from a little unknown company that was eventually bought by Google?
>
> First generation products generally rely more on vision than outright
> sheer performance. Yes, Taifa wouldn't beat Dell or apple today, but as the
> Kenyan Nation let's  buy into that vision‎. That's the least we can do for
> Taifa!
>
> Waithaka Ngigi
>
> Alliance Technologies
> www.at.co.ke
> *From: *Ali Hussein via kictanet
> *Sent: *Friday, August 26, 2016 5:53 AM
> *To: *Ngigi Waithaka
> *Reply To: *KICTAnet ICT Policy Discussions
> *Cc: *Ali Hussein; KICTAnet ICT Policy Discussions
> *Subject: *Re: [kictanet] Taifa Laptop
>
> Daktari
>
> I'm with you. Mine is to debunk the myth that we have to start from
> mediocrity to grow our local industries. We don't have to use the same
> legacy thinking of yesteryears.
>
> Local industry is critical for development even as we move even more
> faster towards the utopia of the Information Age. Even the Americans are
> realizing that the notion of outsourcing to China may be a short time
> profit thing but not necessarily good for the country. However, there's a
> deliberate effort to encourage this. Like *The*
> Revitalize American Manufacturing and Innovation Act of 2013
>
> https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Revitalize_American_
> Manufacturing_and_Innovation_Act_of_2013
>
> Let's support local products and solutions. But let's also ensure we hold
> ourselves to the highest standards possible.
>
> *Ali Hussein*
> *Principal*
> *Hussein & Associates*
> +254 0713 601113
>
> Twitter: @AliHKassim
>
> Skype: abu-jomo
>
> LinkedIn: http://ke.linkedin.com/in/alihkassim
>
>
> "Discovery consists in seeing what everyone else has seen and thinking
> what no one else has thought".  ~ Albert Szent-Györgyi
>
> Sent from my iPad
>
> On 25 Aug 2016, at 10:57 PM, Bitange Ndemo <bndemo at bitangendemo.me> wrote:
>
> Ali,
> I have actually used Taifa and I was impressed with the product.  It was a
> mistake that we killed Nyayo car because we ended up probing up the Proton
> from Malaysia that was started exactly the same time.  Some of the imported
> computers are hopeless.  I can show you several e-waste that we keep on
> importing simply because it is imported.  We have killed the textile
> industry by wearing other people's used clothes yet an economist will tell
> you that the price of a new product drops when supply increases.
>
> Ndemo.
>
> On Thu, Aug 25, 2016 at 10:28 PM, Ali Hussein via kictanet <
> kictanet at lists.kictanet.or.ke> wrote:
>
>> This notion that local equates or should be inferior harks us back to the
>> Nyayo Car. We shouldn't expect mediocrity just because it's local. The days
>> of comparative advantage and 'National Pride' for inferior products MUST
>> end otherwise we will continue to lag behind as a contingent.
>>
>> Let's buy local yes. But let's continuously demand the highest standards.
>> It is the only way to keep local industry alive.
>>
>> *Ali Hussein*
>> *Principal*
>> *Hussein & Associates*
>> +254 0713 601113
>>
>> Twitter: @AliHKassim
>>
>> Skype: abu-jomo
>>
>> LinkedIn: http://ke.linkedin.com/in/alihkassim
>>
>>
>> "Discovery consists in seeing what everyone else has seen and thinking
>> what no one else has thought".  ~ Albert Szent-Györgyi
>>
>> Sent from my iPad
>>
>> On 25 Aug 2016, at 9:39 PM, Ahmed Mohamed Maawy via kictanet <
>> kictanet at lists.kictanet.or.ke> wrote:
>>
>> Its not that I am disputing that fact Dr. Ndemo. But the fact that they
>> can pay extra to buy a foreign product gives that extra room for choice -
>> in a free market choice is a must have. Having a free market is in some
>> circumstances maybe even better for the development of our own products.
>> Competition breeds efficiency in the long-run.
>>
>> I totally agree that we need to support Taifa as a product and make it
>> scale. But again the consumer has the right to have a choice. Some kids go
>> to University barely on loans that they can raise from family, if they
>> could. Some just can not - and in my personal capacity having been one of
>> those on that demographic I can feel what some of these kids can feel.
>>
>> It just means that we need to become better business people to market
>> that product better.
>>
>> I believe Kenyans can be patriotic. All they need is a reason to be so.
>> All they need is leadership.
>>
>> On Thu, Aug 25, 2016 at 9:33 PM, Bitange Ndemo <bndemo at bitangendemo.me>
>> wrote:
>>
>>> Ahmed,
>>> They did not but in Korea everybody had to use the local products.  To
>>> buy foreign, you had to pay extra.  In fact even today only 1 in 10 cars on
>>> the road that is not Korean.  The point I am making is that our problems
>>> emanate from the appetite of foreign goods.  That is how we are not
>>> creating jobs.  Freedom even in the most free states is relative.  Our
>>> security now and in the future depends on what we do with unemployment.
>>>
>>> Ndemo.
>>>
>>> On Thu, Aug 25, 2016 at 9:23 PM, Ahmed Mohamed Maawy <
>>> ultimateprogramer at gmail.com> wrote:
>>>
>>>> Agreed with you bwana Ndemo 100%
>>>>
>>>> But the point of all this is that the Koreans didn't come to force us
>>>> to buy their units.
>>>>
>>>> On Thu, Aug 25, 2016 at 9:19 PM, Bitange Ndemo via kictanet <
>>>> kictanet at lists.kictanet.or.ke> wrote:
>>>>
>>>>> Michael,
>>>>> I have bought six of Taifa Laptops for students who come to me for
>>>>> help.  They are happy with the product.  I don't buy Taifa because it is
>>>>> cheap.  I buy to support the growth of light electronic manufacturing
>>>>> industry in Kenya.  We have bought garbage in form of tablets for many
>>>>> years from Asia.  We effectively supported Asians to go through the
>>>>> learning curve.  Today they dominate the sector.  India is making the
>>>>> industry a priority and estimates show it will top more than $ 900 billion
>>>>> by 2020.
>>>>>
>>>>> Before we criticism these noble efforts we must look back and correct
>>>>> our attitude.  We supported Koreans perfect the Hyundai, Indians perfect
>>>>> the Mahindra, Japanese perfect the Toyota Mark II and Chinese perfect their
>>>>> electronic manufacturing capability.  Kenya will not wake up one day and
>>>>> produce a perfect product without going through a learning curve.  JKUAt
>>>>> has had to go through the learning curve since they produced their first
>>>>> computer, Madaraka with the support of the Ministry of Information and
>>>>> Communications.  We have a collective responsibility to be part of the
>>>>> solution to our perennial problems of unemployment.  Without the local
>>>>> market we cannot scale.  Patriotism means we make certain sacrifices while
>>>>> giving constructive criticisms.  Africa will never get out of poverty by
>>>>> being consumers of other people's products.  Go buy Taifa and give some
>>>>> advise on what they need to improve.  It has warranty and personally I have
>>>>> no problem with the lap top.
>>>>>
>>>>> Ndemo.
>>>>>
>>>>> On Thu, Aug 25, 2016 at 12:10 PM, Musya Michael via kictanet <
>>>>> kictanet at lists.kictanet.or.ke> wrote:
>>>>>
>>>>>> Anyone using this laptop? Experiences so far?
>>>>>>
>>>>>> http://www.the-star.co.ke/news/2016/08/22/parents-protest-jk
>>>>>> uats-imposition-of-taifa-laptops-on-students_c1407693
>>>>>>
>>>>>>
>>>>>> --
>>>>>> Regards,
>>>>>>
>>>>>> Michael Musya.
>>>>>>
>>>>>>
>>>>>> I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.
>>>>>> Philippians 4:13
>>>>>>
>>>>>> _______________________________________________
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>>>>>>
>>>>>> The Kenya ICT Action Network (KICTANet) is a multi-stakeholder
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>>>>>
>>>>>
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>>>>> The Kenya ICT Action Network (KICTANet) is a multi-stakeholder
>>>>> platform for people and institutions interested and involved in ICT policy
>>>>> and regulation. The network aims to act as a catalyst for reform in the ICT
>>>>> sector in support of the national aim of ICT enabled growth and development.
>>>>>
>>>>> KICTANetiquette : Adhere to the same standards of acceptable behaviors
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>>>>
>>>>
>>>>
>>>> --
>>>> *Ahmed Maawy*
>>>> Executive Director - SwahiliBox / M-Power (CBO)
>>>> Curator - Global Shapers Mombasa Hub
>>>> Ambassador - Open Knowledge
>>>> Director - Startup Grind Mombasa
>>>> Software Developer - AJ+ / EveryLayer
>>>> (KE) +254 714 960 627
>>>> Skype: ultimateprogramer
>>>>
>>>> swahilibox.co.ke
>>>> globalshapers.org
>>>> www.okfn.org <http://okfn.org/>
>>>> startupgrind.com
>>>> ajplus.net
>>>> www.everylayer.com
>>>>
>>>
>>>
>>
>>
>> --
>> *Ahmed Maawy*
>> Executive Director - SwahiliBox / M-Power (CBO)
>> Curator - Global Shapers Mombasa Hub
>> Ambassador - Open Knowledge
>> Director - Startup Grind Mombasa
>> Software Developer - AJ+ / EveryLayer
>> (KE) +254 714 960 627
>> Skype: ultimateprogramer
>>
>> swahilibox.co.ke
>> globalshapers.org
>> www.okfn.org <http://okfn.org/>
>> startupgrind.com
>> ajplus.net
>> www.everylayer.com
>>
>> _______________________________________________
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>> Unsubscribe or change your options at https://lists.kictanet.or.ke/m
>> ailman/options/kictanet/info%40alyhussein.com
>>
>> The Kenya ICT Action Network (KICTANet) is a multi-stakeholder platform
>> for people and institutions interested and involved in ICT policy and
>> regulation. The network aims to act as a catalyst for reform in the ICT
>> sector in support of the national aim of ICT enabled growth and development.
>>
>> KICTANetiquette : Adhere to the same standards of acceptable behaviors
>> online that you follow in real life: respect people's times and bandwidth,
>> share knowledge, don't flame or abuse or personalize, respect privacy, do
>> not spam, do not market your wares or qualifications.
>>
>>
>> _______________________________________________
>> kictanet mailing list
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>>
>> Unsubscribe or change your options at https://lists.kictanet.or.ke/m
>> ailman/options/kictanet/bndemo%40bitangendemo.me
>>
>> The Kenya ICT Action Network (KICTANet) is a multi-stakeholder platform
>> for people and institutions interested and involved in ICT policy and
>> regulation. The network aims to act as a catalyst for reform in the ICT
>> sector in support of the national aim of ICT enabled growth and development.
>>
>> KICTANetiquette : Adhere to the same standards of acceptable behaviors
>> online that you follow in real life: respect people's times and bandwidth,
>> share knowledge, don't flame or abuse or personalize, respect privacy, do
>> not spam, do not market your wares or qualifications.
>>
>
>
>
>
>
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