[bamboozled]

If you're starving and working in a toxic garbage dump, how does a smart phone or cell phone improve the situation? Honest question.

If the government is corrupt, and steal infact money from citizenss, is a cell phone going to put food on your table? It could actually be used against a population. Think mass surveillance, censorship or false news for example.

Also, the OP said the "poorest", from my own observations the "poorest" will not have money for cellphones, electricity or credit. You might be referring to less wealthy people than you, but the poorest?

Look at all the tech available in the US and 50 million still go hungry [1].

I believe amongst technologsits there is a false view that technology "just makes things better". The reality is technology is a tool and it has to be used for the right applications by those of us with good intentions. Modern technology offers potential, it's not always essential.

[1] http://indiafacts.org/americas-most-desperate-why-are-50-mil...

[Hondor]

It does't matter how poor the poorest people are. They'll always be extremely poor. The important change is that their numbers are falling. If your job is to work with the poorest people, you won't see the ones who never became poor in the first place due to global improvements in quality of life.

[macintux]

> If you're starving and working in a toxic garbage dump, how does a smart phone or cell phone improve the situation?

It's worth remembering the incredulous responses to seeing photos of Syrian refugees with smartphones.

They rather missed the point: smartphones are a lifeline for many poor, desperate people. Internet access enables communications, enables research into fundamentals like "where can I find someone willing to save my life?"