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> I could be wrong, but I recall in many developing countries phones there are many teenagers who code on their phone because laptops (even tablets) are prohibi
by jlg23 1y ago
> I could be wrong, but I recall in many developing countries phones there are many teenagers who code on their phone because laptops (even tablets) are prohibitively costly.
Yes, I see that a lot here in the far south of Morocco.
> They might be wiring their phones up to some cheap keyboards, which is technically possible but I don't know if they're doing that.
They do. Adapters are about $2.
- giancarlostoro 1y agoWhy do that when bluetooth keyboards are cheap these days too? For like $11 you can get a bluetooth keyboard, which would most likely just work... I could also see some of them using a cheap tablet for the larger screen, but I've also run into teens who use their phones exclusively.
- VoidWhisperer 1y agoIt may be $11 here in the US, but it might be harder to get and more costly in a developing nation. In which case, if it is easier to get that $2 adapter and an e-waste keyboard, that likely makes sense for them
- giancarlostoro 1y agoSure, I don't discount that, I guess my real point was that bluetooth might still be viable depending on country.
- oharapj 1y agoPretty sure the people who have to choose between eating and a $2 adapter and not eating and a Bluetooth keyboard have a better understanding of the trade offs and what’s viable than you do. Not sure what real point you’re trying to make here
- giancarlostoro 1y ago$2 makes sense if they have a computer already and a keyboard for said computer, otherwise it doesn't make much sense to me.
- Fluorescence 1y agoYou can get bluetooth keyboards on aliexpress for under £2. If dealing with that type of budget then scavenging is probably the better route especially as online payments may also be out of reach. In general, as a frugal person, buying "converter" type hardware is rarely a win because mass produced things are so much cheaper than more trivial but niche things. However, converter type things are often unused clutter someone would happily give away. Just yesterday I came across some ps2 to usb converters. I can't imagine ever needing one again...but imagine the horror of not having one if you did! I probably didn't need to keep two though...