An AP story about young people in gender-segregated Saudi Arabia reaching out to each other through short-range wireless. [via boingboing]
“The women would not give their full names when talking about communicating with the opposite sex ‚Äö√Ñ√Æ so strong is the taboo in this kingdom where men and women are strictly segregated. Unrelated men and women caught talking to each other, driving in the same car or sharing a meal risk being detained by the religious police. But connecting by Bluetooth is safe and easy. Users activate the Bluetooth function in their phone and then press the search button to see who else has the feature on within a 30-foot range.
They get a list of ID names of anyone in the area ‚Äö√Ñ√Æ names, mostly in Arabic, often chosen to allure: poster boy, sensitive girl, lion heart, kidnapper of hearts, little princess, prisoner of tears. Some are more suggestive, like “nice to touch” and “Saudi gay club.”
(…) Many images feature babies ‚Äö√Ñ√Æ some blowing kisses ‚Äö√Ñ√Æ perhaps because women consider them cute. Animated cartoons doing belly dances, dreamy Arabic songs and sappy, sentimental messages are also popular. “Last night I sent an angel to watch over you, but he came back soon,” said one message. “I asked him why, and he answered, ‘Am not allowed to watch over other angels.”
Comments
@ 15:00
i dont know about this, i mean this is something you could get in trouble for dont you think? i mean something is going on in the world and you guys are worried about making phone calls n crap! bullshit! anyways im looking for a debate so hit me up~Ashley
@ 10:25
I can’t image a more ethnocentric comment. Respect that people’s worlds are different that yours.
@ 18:53
You could probably classify this as a “disruptive technology”… people are using decentralized networking to further their social needs.
@ Ashley:
This is anti-establishment technology. It is the essence of decentralized p2p networking. IMHO these people won’t get in trouble because the “religion police” don’t need bluetooth, nor are they accustomed to networking in this fashion.
I’d excuse the ethnocentrism as ignorance - mainly of the lack of social freedoms over there (these are taken for granted in the US and don’t make the news) and the fact that most people reduce Saudi Arabia to an oil patch.
Small things like this are likely to have wider implications in 10+ years, when people have adjusted to these tools.