India has more cell phones than toilets: UN - Yahoo! India News

mikehudack:

joncrowley:

deepr:

Wow.  Priorities much, guys?

If you asked me to pick between a communication device that could get me emergency help, connect me with distant family and resources, and help my business, or indoor plumbing, I’d take the phone.

I’ve dug a latrine before.  It isn’t pretty, or that great of an experience to use.  But this is an example of good priorities, and the assumptions of the western world.  There are passable solutions for a toilet available if you have a shovel and dirt.  Telephony changes a lot of things, very quickly.  A toilet changes the user experience of eliminating waste.

In many parts of the world, we’re at a point where skipping steps in the version of ‘modern civilisation’ that North America is familiar with, only makes sense.  Cell phones before toilets, because the infrastructure is cheaper, and in many cases, potentially more meaningful.