Re:Inventing a Soccer Ball for Poor Countries
by DanBC on Friday November 09, 2012 @11:22AM
(#4763465)
Build a factory "over there" and provide employment opportunities. This helps develop infrastructure in a sustainable useful way.
This also provides income replacement for the little children who are no longer stitching traditional footballs.
(http://articles.timesofindia.indiatimes.com/2012-09-27/rest-...)
[1] Sorry for the "over there" which is a lazy perhaps offensive way to refer to the developing world.
Re:Inventing a Soccer Ball for Poor Countries
by narag on Friday November 09, 2012 @11:08AM
(#4763402)
I've seen foam footballs before...
I've played with it, my son has one. It has a weird way of bouncing, compared to inflated ones.
I've seen foam footballs before... (after google search):
http://www.decathlon.es/balon-futbol-de-espuma-kipsta-foam-i...
and they're much cheaper than the proposed one (you can get them for 1-2 dollars), but probably way less durable.
"A lion at the Johannesburg Zoo, who would go through six regular balls a day, played with two balls. A German shepherd spent a year biting on a ball. In every case, the balls withstood the abuse."
That does sound durable. As stated, U$ 40 is way too expensive for a ball, so the only way it will work is if they continue giving them away as part of relief efforts.
Unicef: "“compared to the $2.50 we pay for a regular football, the current cost difference for the more durable solution is currently too high.”"
And the shipping problems are also a hindrance.
"because the balls cannot be deflated, they are more difficult to ship"