It is worth mentioning that Muhammad Yunus is not only a microcredit pioneer but also co-created Grameen Phone, the very first mass cell phone provider in Bangladesh. They implemented a very innovative business model to make cell phones accessible to the poor, by allowing the cell phone owner (a villager) to resell minutes to other people in that same village.
What is interesting (and relevant for HN) is that the Grameen Phone experience demonstrates how access to technology empowers people exponentially:
1) The cell phone owner (villager) has a new source of income
2) The other villagers also increase their income, because now with access to crop information and market info, they can run their crops with less waste and negotiate a better price
3) Women is empowered because most of the phone owners are women (who are disenfranchised in that society)
Whats interesting about the model of selling minutes is that it is now used almost as a currency in some countries (specifically in african countries) where a cab driver will accept a transfer of minutes rather than money because he knows he can resell those minutes to someone else.
Exactly. Actually the site nextbillion.net did a case study a few years ago about this subject. I cannot find the exact link right now, but I am sure it's somewhere in the site :)
But it can't work here. Are you going to be satisfied when your spouse or child is seriously ill, if you can only talk to a doctor by telephone, and no specialist ever even examines the patient?
This service already exists here (in US, I assume), and is actually a prerequisite of sorts when scheduling an appointment: you have to call the nurse, explain your situation, and go from there. The catch is, you already have to have insurance to be able to do this (which costs much more than $2/year).
A lot of the time I just want to ask a question, or get a prescription for something obvious, and scheduling an appointment is overkill. Luckily, my sister in law is a doctor, so I can just instant message her. It's much more efficient.
What is interesting (and relevant for HN) is that the Grameen Phone experience demonstrates how access to technology empowers people exponentially:
1) The cell phone owner (villager) has a new source of income
2) The other villagers also increase their income, because now with access to crop information and market info, they can run their crops with less waste and negotiate a better price
3) Women is empowered because most of the phone owners are women (who are disenfranchised in that society)