ICYMI https://abs.twimg.com/emoji/v2/... draggable="false" alt="📝" title="Memo" aria-label="Emoji: Memo"> We published our @A4A_Internet report on device prices earlier this month. These little bricks that sit in our hands didn& #39;t exist twenty years ago and yet now are life-essential for billions of people. https://a4ai.org/research/from-luxury-to-lifeline-reducing-the-cost-of-mobile-devices-to-reach-universal-internet-access/

Some">https://a4ai.org/research/... personal reflections, in a thread https://abs.twimg.com/emoji/v2/... draggable="false" alt="⏩" title="Nach rechts zeigendes doppeltes Dreieck" aria-label="Emoji: Nach rechts zeigendes doppeltes Dreieck">

I got my first smartphone, a HTC Nexus 1, ca. 2010 when I became a public face for @StANightline and had a number of new volunteer coordination responsibilities. I couldn& #39;t have done this role without the newfound power of the internet in my hands, on the go.

It transformed my life. Today, my smartphone (still an Android, now a Pixel) is probably my most-used tool, next to the glasses that sit on my face. My professional and social life survive and thrive through this 5.5in screen.

It& #39;s also great for vacation selfies.

And that& #39;s part of the magic of these bricks. Smartphones do everything: the small, the big, the personal, the public. Looking at 1900 era animations of life "in the year 2000" (En L& #39;An 2000), you see one hundred years& #39; foreshadowing of these devices. They https://abs.twimg.com/emoji/v2/... draggable="false" alt="👏🏻" title="Applaus-Zeichen (heller Hautton)" aria-label="Emoji: Applaus-Zeichen (heller Hautton)"> do https://abs.twimg.com/emoji/v2/... draggable="false" alt="👏🏻" title="Applaus-Zeichen (heller Hautton)" aria-label="Emoji: Applaus-Zeichen (heller Hautton)"> it https://abs.twimg.com/emoji/v2/... draggable="false" alt="👏🏻" title="Applaus-Zeichen (heller Hautton)" aria-label="Emoji: Applaus-Zeichen (heller Hautton)"> all.

That& #39;s why confronting the cost barrier of these devices is so crucial. 2.5 billion people live in countries where the cheapest new smartphone is more expensive as a fraction of income than what a European like me is spending on housing and utilities.

No wonder that the digital divide is so stubborn. The initial cost to connect – the device, the data, the electricity, and the time cost of learning how it all works – is so high. There& #39;s a number of things policymakers and others can do to help.

https://abs.twimg.com/emoji/v2/... draggable="false" alt="1️⃣" title="Tastenkappe Ziffer 1" aria-label="Emoji: Tastenkappe Ziffer 1"> Reducing taxes on low-cost devices to encourage more retailers to sell these devices, especially operators and other big brands that help consumers navigate the market.

https://abs.twimg.com/emoji/v2/... draggable="false" alt="2️⃣" title="Tastenkappe Ziffer 2" aria-label="Emoji: Tastenkappe Ziffer 2"> Use Universal Service & Access Funds to subsidise devices for those least able to buy them.

https://abs.twimg.com/emoji/v2/... draggable="false" alt="3️⃣" title="Tastenkappe Ziffer 3" aria-label="Emoji: Tastenkappe Ziffer 3"> Support projects that help people spread the cost of devices, give people access to credit and other financial tools instead of full cost, up front for a device.

This is probably the hardest knot to untangle but also has some of the greatest potential to help.

Also worth noting that this is one of (if not *the*) first publicly-available datasets that tracks smartphone prices in a machine-readable format. I& #39;m proud of @A4A_Internet& #39;s commitment for our research help more people understand, analyse, and campaign for device affordability.

I hope this report gets us a step closer to achieving it all. More selfies, more video chats, more knowledge – made available to more people. Let& #39;s gohttps://abs.twimg.com/emoji/v2/... draggable="false" alt="📱" title="Mobiltelefon" aria-label="Emoji: Mobiltelefon">