Technological Leapfrogging - there's an app for everything now, but are we making progress where it really matters?

Bagan, Myanmar

I was stoked to discover this week that I could call a tuk tuk on my phone in Mandalay through the same Grab app that I use in my day to day life in Vietnam. I rocked up at Mandalay airport and paid for my tourist SIM card using Thai Baht, and within seconds had access to 4G mobile data. You enter your destination (which you can look up on Google Maps, even if you don't speak a word of the local language) and a few minutes later, a three-wheeler shows up at your feet. No fuss, no hassle, no haggling.

"Wait a minute...we're supposed to haggle, aren't we?"

That famous scene from Monty Python's Life of Brian springs to mind as the driver smiles at me, presses a button on his smartphone and the payment goes through on my Citibank credit card. Money has just changed hands between an Australian bank and a guy with betel nut stained teeth wearing a longyi. Welcome to the future.

You may be familiar with the concept of Technological Leapfrogging. Here's a concise definition according to leapfrog.cl:

 "Leapfrogging is the notion that areas which have poorly-developed technology or economic bases can move themselves forward rapidly through the adoption of modern systems without going through intermediary steps."

Myanmar would seem to be a prime example of this. Driving through parts of the countryside that remind you of a scene from a Rambo movie, you have 4G internet. They are introducing mobile payment systems similar to China's WeChat, like KBZPay. In Bagan, tourists zip around silently on eBikes instead of the petrol guzzling motorbikes that you still find in Vietnam, and even the local street signs have changed accordingly:

Park your eBike at the local temple

I chuckled as I read a quote attributed to King Anawrahta of Bagan today: "if a pilgrim can make homage to all 4 pagodas within a day (before noon), and make a same wish with the same offering to all 4 pagodas, and if the pilgrim undertakes 5 precepts, his or her wish will be fulfilled straight away". 

I wonder what the King would think if he knew we could zip between all 4 pagodas on our eBikes in an hour or two before grabbing a latte and a foot massage in Old Bagan, all before the the clock strikes twelve?

Of course, it hasn't all been smooth sailing. On the bus ride between Mandalay and Bagan, the aircon on our bus stopped working, and we were stuck at a dusty roadside stall for an hour or so while we waited for a replacement vehicle. It was a timely reminder that smartphone apps still can't fix a broken bus or clean a dirty toilet. But at least I had 4G internet while I waited. 

At the time of writing, Grab is only available in Mandalay and Yangon, so you'll be relieved to hear that you'll still be able to use your haggling skills elsewhere in the country. One particularly unique example was this horse and cart driver in Pyin Oo Lwin, who couldn't read Google Maps and had to make an old school phone call to my hotel in order to figure out a price:

This guy won't be signing up for a Grab account anytime soon

So are the people of Myanmar really benefiting from "technological leapfrogging"? The jury is still out on that one, if you ask me. Yes, many of them now have access to smartphones, 4G internet and phone banking - but are they using it to improve their individual lives and their country? Or are they just taking selfies and playing Candy Crush, while continuing to breathe in dust and make do with poor plumbing?

If King Anawrahta was miraculously teleported into 2020 and told about smartphones, the internet and personal computers, I'm sure he would be immediately imagining the limitless possibilities for education and furthering of human knowledge that they present (assuming he hadn't died of shock), just as Doc Brown and Marty McFly did, in their hilarious reunion on the Jimmy Kimmel show in October 2015.

Like any technology, smartphones and fast internet can be a curse or a blessing, constructive or destructive, a positive or a negative - it all depends on how you use them. This isn't just a problem for people in the developing world either. Sure, we've already got plumbing and paved roads figured out, but we probably all know someone (maybe even yours truly) who has experienced the negative effects of too much time spent on video games, social media and/or mindless scrolling. 

You have all the tools you need to learn whatever you want to learn and improve your individual situation at your fingertips. The question is, what are you going to do with them?