"Premature Recycling" of Telephone Wire Forces Wireless Telephony
by John Laumer, Philadelphia 
on 07.13.06
This lovely African handicraft basket is apparently made of telephone wire that was recycled "prematurely". Ethan Zuckerman's blog informs us that "colorful Zulu imbenge baskets that are woven from “recycled” telephone wire. Using the same techniques as were used to weave reed baskets so tight that they can carry water, these baskets are boldly colorful, strong, and very popular as souveniers for travellers in southern Africa. They’re featured in online stores and celebrated in art books". The comments on Ethan's blog are quite revealing. Apparently most purchasers are clueless about where the nice colored wire comes from. If the impossible-to-eliminate problem of wildlife poaching is a fair analogy, wireless telephony will be the only way around the problem. So, if basket making brings wireless to a continent with a poor landline infrastructure, is that a bad thing? Via: BoingBoing.net
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