Igneous Quill

During my brief time of residence in Brazil from 2001 to 2003 it seemed to me that cell phones were everywhere. Everyone from old ladies at the bus stop to boys playing soccer in the street had cell phones, and I joked that soon enough dogs would have them there too. Still, phone calls were expensive, and a lot of people (including me) had pre-paid phones and took advantage of the fact that there was no charge to the user on incoming calls (it cost the person calling a cell phone quite a bit though). For this reason I've doubted for a while that smartphones could make much headway in Brazil, assuming that the Internet connection would cost a fortune. Turns out, I was wrong.

Two of my nieces in Brazil are roughly my daughter's age, in their early teens. They've explained to me that although regular phone calls continue to be expensive, unlimited texting and unlimited Internet are only 50 centavos (about 27 US cents) each per day. This puts texting and mobile Internet access well within the reach of many Brazilians.

For years average Brazilians have gotten along with buggy, virus-laden copies of Windows on their desktops (for those who even own computers). With cell phones already so much a part of the culture and with reasonable rates for mobile data, it seems to me that Brazil is set up to make the leap on the consumer level from desktop to smartphones, and quite possibly from Windows to Android. Still, while the Brazilian government officially supports open source technology, it has also encouraged the opening of an iPhone and iPad factory in the country. In any event, mobile technology has been and will continue to be very important in Brazil.

Given all this, the wise focus for future software development work in Brazil appears to be in mobile apps. That's where I'll be giving my attention, in any case.