TRENDS, NETWORKS, AND CRITICAL THINKING

Chapter 7 : Social Networks and Its Drawbacks

Objectives:
1. Discover the advantages and disadvantages of social networking sites.
2. Apply critical thinking in assessing the drawbacks of social networking sites.
3. Discover the significance of oil in various respects and connections.

We are into the world of social net-

working. There is no escaping it. Gone are the days
when an event pass unnoticed. Everything now is
disclosed in any social network and stays on it.

The Philippines ranked 11th among

the top 20 Internet countries by users.

*Social networks provide enormous

help to humanity.
* Social networks have changed the
way people live.
* The world faces many challenges in
the 21st century due to the drawbacks
social networks bring.

Aren’t Medicine and Water More Important than Telecommunications?

ICT4D is a small, but growing community working on the massive challenge of bringing
Internet connectivity to the world. As such, effectively conveying the meaning and opportunity
of our work to people other than the few that already understand it, be it government officials,
investors, grantmakers, or even telecommunications operators, becomes a massively important
task.

My name is Alex Blum and I am the Founder and CEO of Rugged Communications, a company
that designs and deploys ICT4D solutions. In my experience, I’ve repeatedly come across the
same few questions. We need to answer them articulately if we hope to attract others to our
mission. Here are five questions I encounter most frequently and ways I’ve learned to respond:

pg. 1
 TRENDS, NETWORKS, AND CRITICAL THINKING

1. Question: “Why Does Telecommunications Matter?”

Telecommunications is about connectivity. We aren’t just plopping equipment
down in the middle of nowhere and crossing our fingers. Connectivity is a lifeline to
healthcare, education, economic opportunity, political freedom, and creative expression.
People without connectivity are isolated and face massive impediments to progress.
Study after study, from The World Bank, World Health Organization, McKinsey &
Company, and others have shown that connectivity dramatically changes lives. I imagine
this is why the UN has declared Internet access a human right!

2. Question: “Aren’t Water, Latrines, and Medicine More Important?”

Undoubtedly, sanitary living conditions, sustenance, and basic health services are
human needs and rights. However, to ensure that communities have access to those
needs connectivity, in the long term, is the best solution. With the ability to start
businesses, call a doctor, and download a book, a world of opportunity opens up for
communities around the world.

3. Question: “Can People in Emerging Markets Afford Cell Phones?”

Cell phones offer people access to mobile, educational resources, and political
participation. Throughout the world, people have shown that they will find a way to get
their hands on a phone and the communications capacity it offers. For example, in Africa,
mobile connection penetration rates have increased by about 4,000% since 2000. With
Moore’s Law, noting that computer capacity increases exponentially in capability and
decreases, the ever-decreasing cost of devices makes acquiring a device more feasible
each day.

4. Question: “Why Don’t Large Telecommunications Operators Already Provide Service

There?”
By and large, telecommunications operators have developed a business model
and accompanying technology to address urban populations with high average revenues
per user in densely populated areas. As a result, they haven’t been able to profitably
service many rural areas with this same model. This doesn’t mean it’s impossible though.
New, low-cost equipment has emerged that offers the possibility to develop new
approaches to business that can address new markets. It’s essential that entrepreneurs
demonstrate the reality of this new paradigm in order to extend the opportunity of
connectivity to all people.

5. Question: “What New Technology Do You Have That Will Solve This Problem?”
The technology to connect the entire planet, at a decently low-cost, already exists.
Companies like Ubiquiti radio make it possible to send wireless Internet signal over 100km
with high capacity and next-generation GSM radios by companies like Range Networks,
Fairwaves, and Endaga cost a tiny fraction of what standard hardware sells. New
hardware and software continues to make connecting the planet easier and easier. Before
new technology gets introduced, agreements with government officials, local people, and

pg. 2
 TRENDS, NETWORKS, AND CRITICAL THINKING

operators must be in place, training programs must be developed, and logistics must be
coordinated. Connectivity is about people, not just technology.

Effectively communicating what we actually do is what makes it possible to do it.

It is easy to get lost in grand visions and plans and new technologies, but leading others
in the same direction presents the only possibility of these ideas ever manifesting in the
real world. I believe we are at a critical juncture in the ICT4D ecosphere, with people
finally beginning to see the relevance of connectivity for development. Those of us who
can help steer this momentum towards productivity will usher in a new era of ICT4D
opportunity.

THE ENERGEY THAT KEEPS US CONNECTED

Enormous volumes of literature and research studies generally state that petroleum oil is
the most important mineral deposit of the century. The percentage of the world’s energy supply
is derived from oil.

Coal has been used since the industrial revolution

but only in the last 100 years have huge quantities of oil
and gas been removed from underground reservoirs. Oil
and gas are used as fuel energy in combustion engines and
as “feed stock” for other industries-raw materials for the
manufacture of other chemicals, such as plastics and agri-
cultural fertilizer.

There is a limited amount of fossil fuel. It is not

“renewable” and there is no known way to make more.
The energy stored in oil is significantly greater than in any
other currently available source. There is other equivalent
cheap and powerful energy available from nuclear energy,
natural gas, solar power, wind power, hydrogen, biomass
or coal.

Oil has become so powerful due to it multi-

dimensional significance. As consumers, it is
imperative to explore the implications and effects
of its use. Study of oil is an interplay of domestic
politics, international relations, economics, and
environmental concerns.

pg. 3
 TRENDS, NETWORKS, AND CRITICAL THINKING

Why Oil’s Cost Is as Important as Its Price?

By Spencer Jakab

Most investors can tell you how much a barrel of oil fetches today. Those in the industry
can, too, of course, but they are watching another number closely: how much it costs to produce
that barrel.

While that varies geographically and geologically, it has become cheaper nearly
everywhere. And that has an impact on where the production declines will occur that are needed
to balance oil supply and demand.

In North America, for example, where relatively expensive but abundant shale oil fields
transformed the market in recent years, costs are down sharply. Deutsche Bank oil-field-services
analyst Mike Urban estimates that exploration-and-production companies have cut well costs by
30% to 50% in that time—but that half to two-thirds of that is “cyclical.” In other words, part is
due to technical advances that may have made shale production permanently cheaper. The
cyclical part is because oil-field-services companies have had to slash prices to keep customers—
an unsustainable condition.

“We’re now at the breaking point for the industry,” says Mr. Urban of oil-field-services
companies. “Every day they go out to work they lose money.”
SIGN UP
A temporary decline in service costs is also aiding more traditional oil production where
reinventing the wheel isn’t really an option. But the change in some places isn’t enough whereas
in others it is allowing producers to defy expectations.

Russia represents the latter case. Oil output hit a post-Soviet record despite both low
prices and economic sanctions. While oil is priced in dollars, it is worth about the same in rubles
as when oil prices peaked two years ago. Meanwhile, Russia relies less than most countries on
services priced in dollars because of a large domestic oil-field-services industry.

While international oil-field-services companies don’t break out revenue beyond broad
regions, analysts at Raymond James estimated in 2014 that Russia made up just 3% to 5% of
revenue at four largest U.S.-based providers. By contrast, Latin America made up nearly one-fifth
of revenue recently for Schlumberger, SLB -0.68% the largest oil-field-services firm.

Contrast that with actual production of energy. Russia alone in 2014 produced 40% more
oil than all of Latin America and over three times as much natural gas.

Despite the fact that Latin America’s top producer, Venezuela, has seen its currency’s
effective black-market exchange rate crash far more than Russia’s, it relies heavily on foreign
companies. Venezuela’s hard-currency shortage is making that difficult. Schlumberger
and Halliburton HAL 1.19% recently gave notice that they are cutting back services there due to

pg. 4
 TRENDS, NETWORKS, AND CRITICAL THINKING

late payment. Mr. Urban predicts that Venezuela may soon see significant production declines
as a result.

Oilmen love to remind everyone that it takes low prices to cure low prices. It does, but
the process depends on someone capitulating . To get a better idea of who will oblige the market,
watch the true cost of services.

For further readings please see the links provided:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mmf5OJ6KM9Q
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Uyk2HmUlrhQ
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c4OqDTBZZ9A
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qGxOtalqpzk

REFERENCES:
Mangiduyos, Gladys P. TRENDS, NETWORKS, AND CRITICAL THINKING IN THE 21 ST
CENTURY. Manila:Rex Bookstore
https://www.ictworks.org/arent-medicine-and-water-more-important-than-
telecommunications/#.X4U6T2gzbcs
https://www.wsj.com/articles/why-oils-cost-is-as-important-as-its-price-1464717263
https://www.theglobaleducationproject.org/earth/energy-supply.php

pg. 5