Babalife & Babajob

I have always believed that traveling is a good thing to do. It broadens your spectrum and you get to see ideas, things and concepts that you would never have previously come across. I have traveled to many places and one of the most interesting and different places I have been is India. It is a place filled with such a type of dynamism that it is hard to put your finger on it. I only spent 10 days in southern India a few years ago and it was truly a magical experience.

So it was with no surprise that, while doing research into SMS technology that I came across Babalife and Babajob.
They are sister companies that provide social networking for job seekers and job hunters. The really incredible aspect of it is it is primarily built around the ability to utilize SMS technology. You, as someone looking for a worker, can query the system via SMS. While checking on the background of people via your social network - how are they connected to you or people you know. Kind of a six-degree's of separation idea.

This is brilliant!! I have to tell you. And, it is something that so speaks to how the rest of the world is going to grow up interacting with the web. Their interactions are not going to be computer based - rather they are going to interact via cell phones. They are going to text, use WAP and eventually 3G cell based interactivity.

I realized this while I was in South Africa this winter. Everyone outside of the USA uses text way more then voice, not to mention the cell phone is so much more ubiquitous. In fact - it is the primary life line for the majority of people. Many of these people have never had a land line, never mind a high-speed internet connection.

You see we forget that the way we interact with the web is not universal and that the future is going to be very different for the majority of the world. India is showing that as are many other companies that are emerging from the rest of the world.

I of course have not used Babalife or Babajob, but even if the service is not very reliable the technology and the structure are what will be the start of a whole much bigger revolution. It is like cell phones are still in the "dial-up" phase with the MS-Dos screen.

More to come......I'm sure of it!!!