Some of his former guests include the likes of Google’s SA boss, Stafford Masie, Absa’s Executive Manager of Digital Channels, Christo Vrey, MTN’s MD Tim Lowry, and numerous other industry experts.

In his last show, Reuben discussed with Jeff Fletcher of IS Labs, an Internet ideas incubator, and Matthew Buckland, the GM of Mail & Guardian Online and a prominent blogger, the perceptions and processes needed to be changed or put in place to deliver an Internet service capable of making a massive difference in South Africa’s economy.

There seems to be much pessimism here – Mario Olckers describes how the Internet does not mean big business in SA because it is a reserved luxury for the “elite” (basically, zero presence of PayPal in SA and the lack of credit card use amongst non-high net worth individuals will not substantiate web based business models). Fletcher makes a point that while SA’s web market is primarily made up of those sorts, it won’t be long before Internet providers extend themselves to capture the potentially enormous market share sitting in the lower LSMs – and I’m guessing it’ll probably be in some less than conventional way!

They also looked at how social networking will go niche, which I am definitely inclined to agree with. Whilst the already established sites – FB/MySpace/etc – may have the numbers now, I am convinced that because of our basic human nature, local needs will have to be satisfied. And this is how SA can turn the Internet into the it’s own cash cow.

Anyway, I love that Reuben has made a focus of the Internet, specifically for its positioning in South Africa. Its time we highlighted these issues to those beyond the tech circles. Oh, and if you can’t tune in on a Friday evening, the podcasts of each show are uploaded shortly after.

And nowadays there are even more ways to save than that. Thanks to the power and scope of technology, we’ve gone full circle back to the times before Christopher Columbus set sail, when the general population believed the world to be flat. And by this I mean the opportunity to outsource and even offshore (refer to the book The World is Flat, by Thomas L. Friedman).

Most people can only see the down side of the dot-com bubble burst that happened 8 years ago, but, in hindsight, it is probably one of the biggest blessings this world has ever had. It was during this time that submarine cables were laid, connecting the East to the West, allowing me (and so many other people and organisations) to take advantage of substantially lower wages through the global Internet network today.

In India, I can employ 1 project manager, 2 senior web developers and a web designer, all for the same cost as one developer here in the UK. And because India has so many technically skilled, it reeks of competition, where, much like London’s greatly loved Brick Lane, it ain’t difficult to drive costs down even further by going back and forth between each bidder.

But is this cause for ethical concern? A couple years ago, O-desk – a sort of eBay for work – was criticised by Allen Stern for practicing “eSlavery 2.0”. Buyers on O-desk can literally monitor their work provider’s activities through a webcam, and because rates are so much lower than in the buyers’ home countries, parallels are inevitably drawn to the slave trade of yesteryear.

The difference now, is that the people working on O-desk and other such sites, are doing so voluntarily, and what may seem an offensive salary to us Westerners, is in actual fact affording them a decent lifestyle. This, in turn, boosts their country’s economic positioning, and so, there’s little doubt that over time we’ll see a global shift in wage equality. Until then I’m kitting up for my chance on that level playing field, one where all competitors – big and small – have an equal opportunity.

I must say, the opportunities for technology are huge there – South Africa is still very much a developing market in this regard. Currently, only 10.6% of the population has access to the Internet, but improvements to the broadband infrastructure and more providers entering the market mean we’ll start seeing a big fall in costs, which only increases accessibility (by more than 60%). Even so, SA has one of the highest mobile Internet penetration rates, relative to PC access. Projections show cell phone reach to near 100% next year, and with the World Cup in 2010, there is no option for SA not to be tech ready. The sky really could be the limit for this country that is so perfectly positioned to take a stab at the digital revolution.

Some sceptics may think its too late; that we could never compete with most thriving sites are already global (well, of course they are, it’s the Internet)… but in the web services industry, there’s almost always got to be a local control centre that gets to take home that big fat slice of market pie. Why else do you think Google has set up a South African office?

It’s the start ups now that could make all the difference to the country’s economic positioning – those start ups aiming to serve the local markets digitally. The web may be flattening the world, but some things can never be imported. It just reaffirms the old saying: “local sure is lekker”.

But let’s not be negative, for “this shall be a positive blog”!

So, here I am…

My name is Barbs Mallinson, and I’m a social-network-starter-upper. (Hi Barbs). Yes, there are so many of us. So, are the odds of us making it, in our favour?

Well, it all boils down to building the community.

MySpace holds the record numbers, that’s for sure, but Facebook overtook MySpace’s growth rate and now LinkedIn has surpassed Facebook’s. What is being demonstrated here is the evolution of social networking. Whilst a core group of users will remain with these sites, the rest are realising that they need to fulfill a constructive purpose in their online activities, or they feel guilty for the time they spend connected. And so, the association with what people actually do (or have to get done) seems instrumental if we are to continue along this curve (i.e provide solutions to make things convenient between people in how they interact in the real world). This is why online banking, as a first time model in the web 1.0 arena, worked and continues to work so well. It affords convenience.

So I say, niche by niche, there’s still plenty room for us little folk. Tap into a market and satisfy a need… Social networking is the trend; poking people and fortune cookie apps are simply a fad.