[Alaskan005]

True, IMO. They didn't disrupt anything because there was nothing to be disrupted. It's not like they had our version of Verizon, Comcast and DirectTV offering services in their village.

Smart/cellphones made it possible for them to get connected, if it was for wires, good luck waiting.

[mtgx]

Your point is different than his, in that it's not actually a "disruptive technology", as there was no incumbent technology to disrupt. To your point - maybe it's disrupting the old dumbphones in the same way the iPhone did in the western world? Or simply disrupting the old ways of communicating (by mail, etc)?

Also, his point was that the "disruptive" word is what doesn't sound right here, as it sounds like "phones are disrupting the lives of Africans", which has a completely different meaning. I also kind of disagree with him here, because it's pretty obvious that Jimmy Wales was talking about technological disruption, and how it's a good thing, and not about "ruining people's lives", which I guess it's what someone else could understand from this title, but doesn't sound very likely.