<html><head></head><body lang="en-US" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); line-height: initial;"> <div style="width: 100%; font-size: initial; font-family: Calibri, 'Slate Pro', sans-serif, sans-serif; color: rgb(31, 73, 125); text-align: initial; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">Ahmed,</div><div style="width: 100%; font-size: initial; font-family: Calibri, 'Slate Pro', sans-serif, sans-serif; color: rgb(31, 73, 125); text-align: initial; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><br></div><div style="width: 100%; font-size: initial; font-family: Calibri, 'Slate Pro', sans-serif, sans-serif; color: rgb(31, 73, 125); text-align: initial; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">Free market is just a fallacy, IMO, that is used to open pry our markets.... There's a reason why Obama flys Boeing regardless of better planes from Airbus, why the Japanese PM in TICAD will be driving a Toyota regardless of better European cars.</div><div style="width: 100%; font-size: initial; font-family: Calibri, 'Slate Pro', sans-serif, sans-serif; color: rgb(31, 73, 125); text-align: initial; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><br></div><div style="width: 100%; font-size: initial; font-family: Calibri, 'Slate Pro', sans-serif, sans-serif; color: rgb(31, 73, 125); text-align: initial; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">There's such a thing called National Interests that trumps Free Markets, everytime.</div><div style="width: 100%; font-size: initial; font-family: Calibri, 'Slate Pro', sans-serif, sans-serif; color: rgb(31, 73, 125); text-align: initial; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><br></div><div style="width: 100%; font-size: initial; font-family: Calibri, 'Slate Pro', sans-serif, sans-serif; color: rgb(31, 73, 125); text-align: initial; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">If you remember, We laughed when the Indians started making those Mahindra & Tata black Marias, and within 20 years, Tata had bought LandRover, the top car manufacturer from UK.</div><div style="width: 100%; font-size: initial; font-family: Calibri, 'Slate Pro', sans-serif, sans-serif; color: rgb(31, 73, 125); text-align: initial; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><br></div><div style="width: 100%; font-size: initial; font-family: Calibri, 'Slate Pro', sans-serif, sans-serif; color: rgb(31, 73, 125); text-align: initial; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">If we had stuck with Nyayo Pioneer, as the Indians stuck with their mediocre Mahindra & Tatas, there's a very high chance today most of us might be driving a Made In Kenya car.</div><div style="width: 100%; font-size: initial; font-family: Calibri, 'Slate Pro', sans-serif, sans-serif; color: rgb(31, 73, 125); text-align: initial; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><br></div><div style="width: 100%; font-size: initial; font-family: Calibri, 'Slate Pro', sans-serif, sans-serif; color: rgb(31, 73, 125); text-align: initial; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">So, If a local campus is actually making computers, let the kids buy them, even if they're of inferior quality. In the 2nd edition, Taifa2 will be undoubtedly better‎, by Taifa5, maybe we'll be exporting them to US & Korea.</div><div style="width: 100%; font-size: initial; font-family: Calibri, 'Slate Pro', sans-serif, sans-serif; color: rgb(31, 73, 125); text-align: initial; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><br></div> <div style="font-size: initial; font-family: Calibri, 'Slate Pro', sans-serif, sans-serif; color: rgb(31, 73, 125); text-align: initial; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">Waithaka Ngigi<br><br>Alliance Technologies<br>www.at.co.ke </div> <table width="100%" style="background-color:white;border-spacing:0px;"> <tbody><tr><td colspan="2" style="font-size: initial; text-align: initial; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"> <div style="border-style: solid none none; border-top-color: rgb(181, 196, 223); border-top-width: 1pt; padding: 3pt 0in 0in; font-family: Tahoma, 'BB Alpha Sans', 'Slate Pro'; font-size: 10pt;"> <div><b>From: </b>Ahmed Mohamed Maawy via kictanet</div><div><b>Sent: </b>Thursday, August 25, 2016 9:41 PM</div><div><b>To: </b>Ngigi Waithaka</div><div><b>Reply To: </b>KICTAnet ICT Policy Discussions</div><div><b>Cc: </b>Ahmed Mohamed Maawy; KICTAnet ICT Policy Discussions</div><div><b>Subject: </b>Re: [kictanet] Taifa Laptop</div></div></td></tr></tbody></table><div style="border-style: solid none none; border-top-color: rgb(186, 188, 209); border-top-width: 1pt; font-size: initial; text-align: initial; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"></div><br><div id="_originalContent" style=""><div dir="ltr"><div><div>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.<br><br>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.<br><br></div>It just means that we need to become better business people to market that product better.<br><br></div>I believe Kenyans can be patriotic. All they need is a reason to be so. All they need is leadership.<br></div><div class="gmail_extra"><br><div class="gmail_quote">On Thu, Aug 25, 2016 at 9:33 PM, Bitange Ndemo <span dir="ltr"><<a href="mailto:bndemo@bitangendemo.me" target="_blank">bndemo@bitangendemo.me</a>></span> wrote:<br><blockquote class="gmail_quote" style="margin:0 0 0 .8ex;border-left:1px #ccc solid;padding-left:1ex"><div dir="ltr">Ahmed,<div>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. </div><span class="HOEnZb"><font color="#888888"><div><br></div><div>Ndemo.</div></font></span></div><div class="HOEnZb"><div class="h5"><div class="gmail_extra"><br><div class="gmail_quote">On Thu, Aug 25, 2016 at 9:23 PM, Ahmed Mohamed Maawy <span dir="ltr"><<a href="mailto:ultimateprogramer@gmail.com" target="_blank">ultimateprogramer@gmail.com</a>></span> wrote:<br><blockquote class="gmail_quote" style="margin:0 0 0 .8ex;border-left:1px #ccc solid;padding-left:1ex"><div dir="ltr"><div>Agreed with you bwana Ndemo 100%<br><br></div>But the point of all this is that the Koreans didn't come to force us to buy their units.<br></div><div class="gmail_extra"><br><div class="gmail_quote"><div><div>On Thu, Aug 25, 2016 at 9:19 PM, Bitange Ndemo via kictanet <span dir="ltr"><<a href="mailto:kictanet@lists.kictanet.or.ke" target="_blank">kictanet@lists.kictanet.or.ke</a><wbr>></span> wrote:<br></div></div><blockquote class="gmail_quote" style="margin:0 0 0 .8ex;border-left:1px #ccc solid;padding-left:1ex"><div><div><div dir="ltr">Michael,<div>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.</div><div><br></div><div>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.</div><div><br></div><div>Ndemo.</div></div><div class="gmail_extra"><br><div class="gmail_quote"><div><div>On Thu, Aug 25, 2016 at 12:10 PM, Musya Michael via kictanet <span dir="ltr"><<a href="mailto:kictanet@lists.kictanet.or.ke" target="_blank">kictanet@lists.kictanet.or.ke</a><wbr>></span> wrote:<br></div></div><blockquote class="gmail_quote" style="margin:0 0 0 .8ex;border-left:1px #ccc solid;padding-left:1ex"><div><div><div dir="ltr">Anyone using this laptop? Experiences so far?<div><br></div><div><a href="http://www.the-star.co.ke/news/2016/08/22/parents-protest-jkuats-imposition-of-taifa-laptops-on-students_c1407693" target="_blank">http://www.the-star.co.ke/news<wbr>/2016/08/22/parents-protest-jk<wbr>uats-imposition-of-taifa-lapto<wbr>ps-on-students_c1407693</a><span><font color="#888888"><br><div><br clear="all"><div><br></div>-- <br><div data-smartmail="gmail_signature"><div dir="ltr">Regards,<br><br>Michael Musya.<br><br><br>I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.<br>Philippians 4:13</div></div>
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