CrowdSpirit

The sound of my country (through SMS)

posted by hjoandme on 13 February 2008 13:25

Problem context :

I am an immigrant. I was born in Morocco and now I live in Italy, in a big city.

NEED:

I miss my old life in Morocco. I would like to be in touch with what happens in my home country:

1. What's going on today, there?
2. What are the famous people (politicians, artists, opinion leaders...) of my country doing and saying?
3. What are the latest news of my particular region/city?
4. What are the last releases of Moroccan artists?
5. What about stupid questions, but so important in "creating the sensation of being there" like "what's the weather in my city?"

I would like to feel the sensation of "being there", in Morocco. Listening to familiar voices, knowing about what happens there. How can I do this?

You may say that radio of every kind already exist on the internet. But consider, that most of the immigrants with a low-moderate income use internet cafe to access the web. So there are constrains of time and money.

DETAILS OF MY PRESUMED TECH EQUIPMENT:

Not so much. A basic mobile phone (just calls and SMS) - but capable of playing Mp3.

WHY DO I THINK IMMIGRANTS HAVE THIS NEED?

I often see, in my daily life, moroccan (or arab or african) people listening to music on their mobile (not mp3 player - they don't have money to "waste" on it). Many times the mobile is very basic, even if younger immigrants tend to buy mobiles with camera and or MP3 player. They like to listen to their "own" music (made by artists of their countries). They listen to it with the loudspeaker on, like a radio, even when they are on public transportation vehicles. Mobile is really used like a radio. But they do not listen to Italian radio. They listen to something that is strictly connected to their origin/country.

So why don't offer the other classic radio services through mobile?

I think the big question is just matching the right content ("their music") with a widespread way of media consumption (moible) with a low costy technology accessible by everybody (SMS)

 

Proposed Solution :

ANSWER:

Send podcast of radio transmissions to the mobile by SMS. I could subscribe to the service, paying a monthly fee and receiving on daily basis (or weekly or monthly) MP3s

These MP3 could be:

1. News of my country
2. News focused on a particular region/country
3. Radio transmissions of my country (I mean the single episodes)
4. Latest release of home artists