Jakarta's own information 'supir taksi' highway

Jakarta's own information 'supir taksi' highway

By Amir Sidharta

JAKARTA (JP): Personally, I'm all for Bill Clinton and Al Gore's information highway. However, Guy Kawasaki's Wise Guy column, published in the July 1994 issue of MacWorld, provided me with some alternative insights.

In the article, the software genius identified five potholes to the creation of the highway. The first is that the highway is being built by "the wrong kind of people." He further explains that "the inventions that changed the world -- such as the telephone, the computer and the airplane -- were created in the garages and labs of nerdy scientists and engineers, not in investment banks or boardrooms."

Second, it is questionable whether there are enough programs to cater to the 500 channels of video programming that the information superhighway plan boasts. Even now, with the 20 or so channels available on a standard cable television service in the United States, we always catch ourselves constantly pressing the buttons of the remote, flipping through boring channels.

The next two potholes place importance in the reality of the experience. According to the information superhighway theory, many consumers could not be bothered to go shopping at the mall, and would rather tune in to the shopping channel and order their goods by electronic means.

Kawasaki is right. How could you even conceive of relying on a handful of businessmen (note the stress on men) to decide on how Americans, and especially women, want to shop.

Could you imagine husband and wife cuddling peacefully together by the television on weekends? All right, lets say, some couples could survive the fights for the remote control. They order their sweaters, and receive packages via next-day express mail. Whoops, wrong size. "No hon, that's not the color I wanted."

They call the merchants back. A never-ending multi-layered voice mail device answers. Finally, you get a human customer service representative, who apologies and offers you a money back guarantee or to exchange your goods. You send in your wrong orders and wait for the right ones to be sent. History repeats itself, and you are bummed. "Get it? I guess you had to be there!"

Kawasaki has got it. Here is the punch line, in his words, "Shopping is fun. It's a sport, It's entertainment. People want to get dressed up, jump in a car, go to the mall, push strollers around, eat fast food and ice cream, and shop until they or their baby drop." Meet me at the mall!

Pothole number 4 states that "books won't die." Kawasaki points out that part of the information superhighway was developed with the assumption that books will die. However, the fact is that he himself -- a self proclaimed "stay-at-home Macintosh househusband" -- rarely uses his CD-ROMs. That is not something you would think of a computer freak who is rich enough and hence probably has all the time in the world to fiddle around with each and every CD-ROM produced.

Although he admits that there are some cool educational CD- ROMS for children, he claims that he has "yet to see a CD-ROM worth buying" for himself. Books still reign supreme. "You can drop them; you can read them in low light; and you don't need to charge their batteries or plug them in." CD-ROMs are a hassle, and he'd simply rather use his wall outlet for his lava lamp.

Finally, it boils down to implementation, the fifth pothole. Kawasaki simply points out that there are still many parts of Washington D.C. which do not have cable television. The infrastructure is far from ready.

Now, when a country as advanced as the United States is not ready for the information superhighway, when do you expect such a thing to get here? Well, while the Internet has reached Indonesia, such hi-tech devices still reach a certain segment of the population only. A small number of people working for large institutions are using it here, and as far as I am concerned, they have not used it optimally. I have not subscribed because I haven't been able to get through to the customer service numbers that are available.

Jakarta's version

Instead, I am becoming interested in using Jakarta's own version of the U.S. information superhighway. I call it the information 'supir taksi' highway.

A friend of mine has used Jakarta's taxis as her main means of transportation since she started working seven years ago. The taxis have, indeed, been efficient and effective. Not only do the taxis help her get to her job and home everyday, it has perhaps even helped her get to her current position as the PR manager of a prominent hotel.

The 'supir taksi' (taxi driver) provide her with customer feedback. As a taxi driver drives hotel guests around, he absorbs their praises or complaints about the hotel. Then, as my friend is driven home, the driver channels the complaints back to her. The system is perhaps better than the customer satisfaction cards that guests have to fill out and send in.

If you think about it, riding in a taxi is just like accessing the Internet. A passenger brings up an issue, and taxi drivers broadcast the issue to a wide audience. Other passengers respond and provide the drivers with a wider insight. It certainly reminds me of receiving junk mail for trivial issues through the Internet.

Taxi drivers cover a wide and perhaps limitless range of subjects, from world politics to personal matters. Riding in taxis has been for the most part rewarding for me as well.

I remember a driver commenting on city planning. "I don't get it. Why are important business centers located in the middle of the city? If everybody has to converge in the city center, wouldn't that made traffic even more congested? Shouldn't businesses be located on the periphery of the city so as to relieve the city of traffic? We could connect the centers with a ring road, right?" a taxi driver once said. Should we suggest that taxi drivers be included in city planning? They seem to have a valuable insight into our urban problems.

Come to think of it, I am seriously considering patronizing the information supir taksi highway more and more. With the Internet, you need a computer and a telephone line, so that requires you to be stationary. I don't know if the mobile phones available here can yet be used with a modem, but even if they can, I would not be able to afford it.

There is no doubt that potholes exist in this system. Not only that, but also sudden jolts and brakes throughout the ride. However, I bet Kawasaki would be more optimistic toward this system. In contrast to the U.S. information superhighway, Jakarta's information 'supir taksi' highway is already in existence. There is no need to build an extremely expensive infrastructure. You need not worry about insufficient good programs. Here you have no chance to choose; you get what you get. The need for the reality of the experience is no concern. Riding in a taxi, believe me, is a real experience.

Admittedly, some taxi drivers can be overbearing. They tend to ramble on and on! However, that is not any different from the Internet, right? In one day, you could get any amount of messages. You could get 50 one day, 550 the next day, and 1,100 the day after. Of which merely ten percent, if that, you might find useful.

By using Jakarta's version of an information superhighway, you remain mobile and you obtain information as you get to your destination. Sit back and relax, you're on the information 'supir taksi' highway. It's cheap; the price is included in your taxi fare. Moreover, three-in-one is of no concern to users of this system.

On one hand, if you are an expatriate learning Indonesian, your taxi driver can be a great companion with whom you can practice your Indonesian. On the other hand, your input might also be useful to your driver. Try it at your convenience. No subscription necessary. Money back, however, is not guaranteed.