The Rising Influence of Rising Affluence

[DewDiligence]

The next billion smartphone users will be different:

https://www.wsj.com/articles/the-end-of-typing-the-internets-next-billion-users-will-use-video-and-voice-1502116070

A look at Megh Singh’s smartphone suggests how the next billion might determine a new set of winners and losers in tech.

Mr. Singh, 36, balances suitcases on his head in New Delhi, earning less than $8 a day as a porter in one of India’s biggest railway stations. He isn’t comfortable reading or using a keyboard. That doesn’t stop him from checking train schedules, messaging family and downloading movies. “We don’t know anything about emails or even how to send one,” said Mr. Singh, who went online only in the past year. “But we are enjoying the internet to the fullest.”

…Mr. Singh squatted under the station stairwell, whispering into his phone using speech recognition on the station’s free Wi-Fi… On his screen are some of the world’s most popular apps—Google’s search, Facebook Inc.’s WhatsApp—but also many that are unfamiliar in the developed world, including UC Browser, MX Player and SHAREit, that have been tailored for slow connections and skimpy data storage.

…Facebook’s WhatsApp messenger service says its top two markets are India and Brazil. It has become the first stop on the internet for many who have been using it instead of email or social media.