THE COST OF ACCESSIBILITY AND EMPOWERMENT ON THE HIVE BLOCKCHAIN FOR THE AVERAGE NIGERIAN

A good number of people in the world have gone to Android or iOS; however, there is a significant difference among users in terms of sophistication (if I can use the word) as it relates to Hive accessibility. @terganftp and @terganmarket recently made a post HERE about the cheapest means of accessing Hive. Though I joined Hive recently, it has been a world of opportunities for me, where I met with good friends and also earned some tokens. For the purpose of this post, we'll stick with the earn part in the #earnspendgive community.

THE COST OF ACCESSING HIVE

I'll skip the lamentations of how unfavorable and harsh the economy is and pretend like the prospective user is void of resources to access Hive. Hive is relatively free to sign up for, except for some frontends that require some tokens of Hive or HBD. But, you can sign up for free, and thus, accessing Hive is relatively free. But, with what are you accessing Hive? Phone? Tablet? Computer? All these depend on affordability. While @terganftp put a benchmark at $40 to obtain a device, I'll start my benchmark with that same amount as a minimum. The naira-to-dollar rate staggers between 1400 and 1450 at the moment, using the likes of Bybit. So, the $40 is approximately N58,000 to get a device that can access Hive conveniently.

SCREENSHOT FROM JUMIA

Just before going further, let us agree on some basic and minimum features that we expect our device to have. Perhaps these factors would influence our choice of device to access Hive.

A) Storage Space: Personally, I don't like any phone lower than a 4 GB RAM/64 GB ROM, but we have phones like the 3 GB RAM/32 GB ROM that can be expanded with an external storage device. I have used phones that would keep popping up with notifications to empty or delete apps so as to create space. Let us be reminded that the phone will not serve only the purpose of Hive, but other social media like WhatsApp, Instagram, etc. will be installed on it.

B) Android version: the higher the Android version, the higher the features on the phone. I have encountered a few people who were unable to use the #inleo frontend because of the model of the phone being used. They were able to login easily using a higher Android model. Currently, I use an Android 13 phone, and I am able to conveniently access all the Hive frontends. How much lower, I can't really say, but it's possible to access Hive and Ecency, at least with lower Android versions.

C) Brand: I used the filter on Jumia to have a scan of Android phones between $40 and $70, and I got a cheap and rare brand like FreeYond for about $45. But, I don't subscribe to the idea of using an uncommon phone brand. When there is a need for repairs, it's likely to get written off or develop different problems, or the parts may just be scarce to get. But yeah, the likes of Redmi, Oppo, Vivo, Tecno, Itel, and even Samsung were within the range of my filter. Samsung products would have been fine because of their good cameras, but the parts are equally expensive. Let's dive into cameras a little.

D) Device cameras: we would not want to have a low-quality image on Hive as a result of the camera. Remember that the higher the Android version, the higher its features. For the price range in consideration, we can get devices with 13 MP rear. I don't know how clear the camera would be, though.

E) Battery type: I have never liked any battery capacity below 5000 mAh, probably because there is no constant power supply. But also, the more apps and usage of the phone, the faster the battery drains. But 5000 mAh is fair, although most of the devices we saw were as low as 4,000 mAh.

TABLETS AND NOTEPADS

SCREENSHOT FROM JUMIA

You will realize that most of these features focus on cell phones or mobile devices, the use of tablets is largely uncommon, probably because of their size. People like me prefer portable devices such as smart phones. But hey, tablets can be cheaper, have more storage spaces, and maybe, better cameras. Perhaps it'll make one more limited to Hive as a work station than being distracted by other social media. Yet, good tablets that will serve Hive purpose conveniently and perhaps in a more streamlined sense fit within the price range in view.

COMPUTERS AND LAPTOPS

Also, looking at laptops and computers, first is their battery life when there is no power supply; the maximum we can have is 4 hours, and that is where the battery is very good or nearly new. The screens of computers and laptops do give an appealing view, and personally, I used to enjoy typing on them. It could be slower than using a phone when you consider the spatial difference between the keypads. Yet again, the least price we can get for a used laptop in London is ₦100, 000, and that would be after much bargaining. In such situations, I'll also prefer to walk into a shop and pick up the item for both guarantee and customer care relations if there are issues. New is good but equally expensive.

GIFT OF A QProxim Tablet Device

I was excited to receive this as a gift. It had gone out of vogue as a registration device. The excited me wanted to know if it could serve me, and these were my observations regrettably: it could not install or receive Xender, it could not access Ecency or Peakd, it could not install Metamask, it had no volume or space to connect an earpiece, and though it has Bluetooth and I could connect my phone's hotspot, I could not send or receive items. Surely, it reads contents on the USB; maybe I'll try to put the Peakd or Ecency app on the USB device and try installing from there. I ended up leaving the device on the table and continuing with other things. The screen size is relatively fine, and the keypads work well. Hopefully, I can get my way around it. But what's the essence of a device that cannot serve a purpose such as the aforementioned? This is the reason for caution when buying objects, probably because they are cheap. In my case, I got it as a free gift, and unless I want to watch a movie with subtitles where the volume is not needed, I see no use for this. If I am able to get my way around it, you'll probably see a Hiver using it to access the frontends. Or I could just sell it to those who can use it for registration or to capture attendance since it has a fingerprint panel.

DATA

When all is said and done, one would require the availability of internet data for any of the devices. Assuredly, the laptop would consume more data than the cellphone or tablet. But there are data settings on our mobile devices that can be adjusted to minimize data usage, and hopefully the Hiver will have reasonable earnings to buy data to stay online. How cheap are those data points? We have various data providers, but the one I use is MTN. Vendors also have their own rates, which may differ in profit margin. I want to assume the newbie is frugal in data purchases and may not exceed 10 to 15GB of data monthly, which can be earned from the rewards of his post. The choice of data plan may not be based on which is cheapest, but the function of connectivity may be factored in. I wouldn't like to have slow data when my device is not 4G or 5G.

MTN DATA SUBSCRIPTION

AN ONLINE VENDOR

MY TAKE ON HIVE ACCESSIBILITY AS AN EMPOWERMENT

As much as we desire to lift people out of poverty, it can be a herculean task to empower an individual. First, we should establish that the individual desires to be empowered and lifted out of poverty. Secondly, other than empowering the individual, are they willing to spread the empowerment or just enjoy the benefits from there? Perhaps this is where the GIVE in #earnspendgive may come in. Personally, I am working to empower others who have creative minds as regards writing, and I desire most that they spread the flame of giving others the opportunity to learn and earn on Hive.

Well, with ₦100, 000 or 70 HBD, a life can be conveniently empowered into Hive and hopefully nurtured to spread goodwill to others. The community gets bigger, and the chain gets stronger.

ALL IMAGES ARE MINE

Thank you for reading. I would love your comments and contributions.

Posted Using InLeo Alpha

Awesome writeup thank you.

As you might know we live in very different worlds! Here the cheapest data plan you can purchase would be 15000 Naira for 500mg (0.5GB) of data. The cheapest phone you can realistcally purchase would be a Samsung A03S (or maybe A04) which will run about 160,000 Naira (120,000) on sale. Finding plans and phones like the ones you mentioned simply don't exist here. I found what I did simply because I have no access to the items you have there and I am 100% certain that even the most basic itel A18S model would outperform anything that I looked at!

With that being said I'll give a few thoughts ...

You are absolutely right, getting the latest version of Android is usually a very good idea. Going too far back and things just won't work right. I had an old One Plus One phone. It's cameras were great. It was still fairly fast and had good specs. However, it had an old version of android and even some basic sites were beyond it.

With regard to memory and storage space. Of course more is better. However, even that little 2" cellphone I have with 10GB of storage does its job admirally. I just make sure it is laser focused on what I do with it. It doesn't get many apps put on it and only things necessary for communication and posting were added. Having said that I also purchased a Samsung A03S which is lacking in memory and storage space. I used it extensively on my trip to the Philippines. Without games and unessential apps it never had issues whatsoever. I'll say it IS possible to run a more basic phone but it requires more dedication to being mindful of what you put on it.

With regard to battery size. Larger batteries are very nice but 5000mAh only tells half of the story. My Samsung A03S with a 5000mah battery lasts a very very long time (up to 3 days) while my Samsung S20FE or my wife's S23 Ultra (4500mah and 3900mah) are lucky to make it until the end of the day. Indeed My S20FE will often be at 40% after an hour walking the dog playing Cubieverse. The biggest difference is that a basic phone with low power CPU and less bright screen uses a lot less power so needs a much smaller battery.

Hopefully @rare-gem reads this post because there is a good chance she'll be doing a mission next month and has expressed an interest in getting a phone to give away. I'd be really curious how the Itel phone works.

Which brings up the final point. I do understand your hesitance with brands you don't know. I've tried some "no name" brands and have found them to be total garbage. Then again, I've tried some "no name" brands and have procured some truly awesome hidden gems which far exceeded my expectations. Of course when finances are as tight as they seem to be in Nigeria I'd probably follow your viewpoint and get something tested as reliable. It just makes good financial sense to get something more durable.

Again, thanks for the post :) Appreciated.