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I remember being up in the Anti-Atlas mountains of Morocco and the family we had dinner with had satellite TV but no running water. They had news on (Al Jazeera if I remember - but maybe Al Arabiya or something else - Saddam Hussein had been killed that night so it was BIG).
Anyway, they had a meat dinner for us as special guests but otherwise mostly had a vegetarian diet because meat was very expensive. Nonetheless, the TV was critical for both information and entertainment. They also had cell phones.
I saw a TV in 8 of 11 pictures. All the pictures were remarkable in their austerity. The first picture struck me by the wind generator, satellite dish, and TV next to the other utilitarian possessions.
Conclusion: information ranks right up there with food and shelter.
It's entertainment. From my experience in China I've rarely seen a news channel over a movie. Traditional kung fu style movies are the most common amongst the older population.
Entertainment can be equated to information in a practical sense though.
No, it really can not.
Except in the Niquist/Shannon sense, or if you work for E channel...
Entertainment is a method by which people acquire cultural facts, knowledge, even wisdom and philosophy. It easily extends to picking up domain specific knowledge as well, episodes often center around a scientific/technical subject which allows audiences to pickup a cursory level of knowledge in a subject otherwise foreign to them. So directly, yes, entertainment=information even in a very literal sense.
Probably never watched Chinese TV...
I suspect it's entertainment, rather than information. Underlying both both possibilities, the TV is a viewable link to the larger society.
This surprises me, why people expect that they not have TVs in the countryside? Even the most remote village has some kind of power (water wheels are common, wind and solar also), then the TV, the DVD player, the karaoke machine are minimums (but cellphone is always first). The only pic without a TV...people who live on a boat, and what looks like a rich antique dealer.
The antique dealer's TV is to the left of his Lexus in the background.
I'm strongly reminded of Peter Menzel's 1994 book "Material World: A Global Family Portrait".
On a similar vein, of that photo essay about what the world eats: http://www.time.com/time/photogallery/0,29307,1626519,00.htm...
Meanwhile, I'm spending money just to improve storage of my current things - kitchen storage, organising everything inside a garage/shed, water tanks, wine storage, data storage. Yet I am usually happiest digging around in the garden or checking my plants and seeds every morning to see if they've grown 1mm overnight.
Great to get perspective and reset once in a while.
I'm keen to read on my e-reader or tablet, and simplify the things around us. My wife loves the look of books on shelves, "like a library". Instead of converting old CDs and then storing them away, we have shelves of CDs that never get touched. Can't win every one of those tame disputes.
In that respect, I think I'm fortunate to not have ever built up a collection of physical media in the first place. Once you start collecting, it's very hard to let go.
I know Wintermute is hardly a unique alias amongst tech readers, but your initials aren't 'TC' by any chance, are they?
Water, shelter and food covered. Few powered tools (must be fit), hunting weapons or books. I'd expect a few power tools in a rural setting. A chainsaw & compressor can be seen in ~ http://7465558fd9aac3509556-4bd1cc4e7ce85601e6dfb87e971ddf14...
You don't need much. I can fit all my possessions into less than a contractor van. http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/41XCuLPUjsL._SL500_AA3...
It would annoy me greatly to own more things than I could keep track of or haven't used/looked at in the past 12 months.
Wow. Amazing. Just like my personal experience in China. Now what's up with all the articles on China today?
Are there larger versions of these pictures anywhere?
Largest ones I've come across: http://lejournaldelaphotographie.com/fullscreen/1677
Does anyone know whether these are available in a book of some sort? I love what he is doing and want to support it and want to see more pictures.
Holy shit re. the maize. Maize partaaaay!