Increasingly, toll-free numbers dialed from the US are being answered by Indians from Bangalore, Bombay, Chennai and even small towns, such as Lucknow in northern Uttar Pradesh state. "They mimic the American accent and call themselves 'John' and 'Max', and most of the time, nobody knows the difference," says a senior manager of a call-centre company.
Interesting to think of where this will lead. Are we looking at a global sweatshop, as the West reduces its working conditions to compete, an eloi-and-morlocks world with an unemployed West sustained by invisible toilers in the Third World, or the spread of shorter working hours and disposable income across the world? Only time will tell. (via Leviathan)