Cuba lifts ban on computer sales Cuban president Raul Castro has lifted the country's ban on the sale of petit bourgeois merchandise like computers, DVDs, video players and other consumer electronics goods. So ends years of technological prohibition placed under the regime of his brother Fidel Castro, which had classified the electronic devices and appliances …
They could get online legally, that's what the "cyber-cafe" schemes are all about.
What this means is that they can now do that from their own home... though I don't think that would be viable 'till Chavez gives 'em the phat pipe; I think the entire island's bandwidth is something akin to an E3 link.
Cuba is just now going to allow consumer computers, but at the recent ISO shennanigans regarding MSOOXML they voted from the beginning to approve without comments.
If, at the time, consumer computers were not permitted in Cuba and MS systems are really only consumer items, then what were they doing even being members of the standards committee?
"There is of course a "simple solution". Bill Gates could just BUY the island, lock, stoc, and barrel. Give him something to do in his "spare time" after he "retires" from Microsoft."
He could also stake Role Model Citizens to Ease Cuba into the MainStream and Advise the MainStream on how to Handle Emerging Cubas with Access to Quantum and ITs Internet Technologies. Their use of Technology will not be Guided by how IT works only by what needs to be done for IT to work. They will QuITe naturally look to Find Source and easily Crack Codes that only harbour toxic information/unpleasant secrets and those Doors which Open with Beta Relevant Future Information. It is a QuITe Unique Life Changing Event for IT to Host and Server and Apply. Would that be a Human Decision to be made, and if so, what Human?
An Interesting Test Bed is Cuba. A people with only Imagination and/or Virtual Guidance to show them their View of the Wwwider Digital/Binary Mastered World ....... which we can Provide to them in an XXXXtraOrdinary Rendition/Doctored Signal/FutureVU ...... Virtual U.
BroadBand on the Run......... and Running Hot XXXXPatriot Drivers. Are you XXXXPerienced Maestros.
How likely do you think it is before IT starts to Think for You too and with U2?
Now there's a Leading Irish Question to Tempt Bono dDeeper into Imagination which is True.
Back in teh late 90's I worked on the design for a prepay mobile phone system for Cuba. Amongst the strange things about it was that everyone would get given credit fro the govt monthly towards the cost of calls in Pesos and could then top up in USD separately if they wanted. Of course USD were not official currency but the govt sponsored telco glossed over that fact. Things all went well until they discovered that the hardware we were intending to use was HP kit and at that stage it all fell over. Because HP were an american company. (dual core? no, Dual standards!)
Most of the restrictions on Cuba are due to the US blockade. Not only did this mean that US goods should not be exported to the Cuba, but also the US goverment dictated to the rest of the woprld they should not either, otherwise the US would not deal with many of those companies.
However, due to the fact that Canada and much of the new oil rich South American Sates have stuck up two fingers to the US, many people got around this.
And I'm sure the US will get lovey with Cuba, now they have found a massive oil field just offshore.
Of course the worst thing that could happen to Cuba is they let to much American "culture" in.
Had a great holiday there, but visiting the town was educational to say the least.
The public infrastructure appeared fine, with good main roads and money sunk into the tourist industry, but life for the locals was an entirely different matter.
They have a nice climate and a nice natural environment but the homes and conditions they live in are harsh.
Fantastic really. We saw one chap pushing a large drum on a cart and were told he was delivering the water for his "area".
One chap had already told me about his "flat": Most of the "houses" are on the lines of large containers, so if you want to build a house you needed land. You could buy the land or ask someone who already had some and do a cheaper deal. He told me he had asked the person if he could build on top of his house and he agreed and so he had started. He was living there with his wife and child but after a couple of years they still had no proper steps. One takes this with a pinch of salt but sure enough when I got to the town there were all these buildings with new buildings being put on top. As it was different builders and different material and the climate was so good, many of them only consisted of half built walls with roofs, no windows, and sure enough every type of contraption stuck on the side to allow access. Some had proper steps, some had spiral staircases and many just had ladders tied on. There were electricity cables strung out to the houses, but it is hard to imagine PC set ups there. They don't even have prams or buggies. When we queried it with the locals they just said the mothers carried the kids until they could fend for themselves.
One major problem that I didn't really like contributing to was the lack of amenities for the locals. Apparently our hotel beach was the favourite spot in the area and the locals used to come and have family parties on the beach every weekend until the hotels started squeezing them out. One Canadian Doctor on holiday (other bonus point is the lack of brash Americans) spotted a local child drinking water from a rock pool and it was pointed out that because the hotels are A/I even if they could afford it there is nowhere for them to get refreshments as the old vendors have been barred. She went straight to the snack bar and stocked up with take away burgers and chips and cokes and took them back to the locals. Didn't spot her again so not sure if security saw her.
If they want help with these new PCs, I would go!
How much did the US embargo have to do with this? The tone of this article and the trivial comments it generated simply highlight the fact that there is no correlation between people having free access to the computers, the internet and information, and their desire to use it enlighten themselves about the history of this island.
The revolution in Cuba and all that has happened since is an attempt to create a more fair and equal society for everyone. I for one would give up access to technology to further this project.
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