The $100 notebook computer
Inexpensive computers aimed at developing countries will be available in North America soon.
By Gillian Kerr, RealWorld Systems
The information in this article is current as of October 5, 2005.
For many years, computer manufacturers have had their eye on the massive market in developing countries. Most of their interest is economic - there are hundreds of millions of potential customers - but a few developers are pushing a social agenda. Several entrepreneurs have tried to design computers that would work well in a country with unreliable infrastructure and low incomes.
Last year, AMD announced a design for a cheap, stripped down "Personal Internet Communicator" geared toward families that make between $1,000 and $6,000 a year. It consists of a little green box (no monitor) that is impact resistant and easier to use than a regular Windows computer (see photo). It enables web browsing, e-mail and word processing, plus a few other functions, and is based on Windows CE, the operating system for handheld computers. This weekend, Radio Shack will begin selling the Personal Internet Communicator in the U.S. for $299 (all dollars in this article are U.S.).
The technology press is generally dismissive of the PIC's low power and functionality, given that it's possible to buy a full fledged Linux desktop PC for under $400. Michael Robertson, a social entrepreneur, comments:
The specifications I've seen for an ultra-low-cost PC are woefully underpowered and unable to perform common computing duties and will be rejected by the intended beneficiaries.
It reminds me of a classic Seinfeld episode where Elaine has an idea for a bakery to sell only the tops of muffins. In a magnanimous gesture, she decides to donate the bottom halves to the local homeless shelter and here's what happens:
Rebecca: Excuse me, I'm Rebecca Demore from the homeless shelter.
Elaine: Oh, hi.
Rebecca: Are you the ones leaving the muffing pieces behind our shelter?
Elaine: You've been enjoying them?
Rebecca: They're just stumps.
Elaine: Well, they're perfectly edible.
Rebecca: Oh, so you just assume that the homeless will eat them, they'll eat anything?
Mr. Lippman: No no, we just thought...
Rebecca: I know what you thought. They don't have homes, they don't have jobs, what do they need the top of a muffin for? They're lucky to get the stumps.
Elaine: If the homeless don't like them the homeless don't have to eat them.
Rebecca: The homeless don't like them.
Elaine: Fine.
Rebecca: We've never gotten so many complaints. Every two minutes: "Where is the top of this muffin? Who ate the rest of this?"
Elaine: We were just trying to help.
There's a great analogy from the muffins to low-cost PCs. Well-intentioned advocates are offering a muffin stump of a computer to the "digital homeless". Those with the top-of-the-muffin computers are expecting others to be satisfied with just e-mail and other lightweight tasks.
Non-technology people retort that Linux computers - or Windows - require a lot of expertise to learn and support, and that extremely simple and robust computers are essential.
MIT's Media Lab has announced a $100 notebook computer that they want to distribute to every child in the world through a nonprofit called 'One Laptop Per Child'. It will be resistant to dust, heat, bumps, and water, includes a screen and Linux software, and will be powered by a windup crank if electric power is not available. It also will provide wireless Internet connectivity if there is an available wireless network. They are in discussions with five countries to distribute up to 15 million free laptops to children. The computers are underpowered by Robertson's definition, but would enable children to use the web, e-mail and other basic applications.
It is important to note that all of these 'ubiquitous computer' projects include Internet access as the key element. None of them are conceptualized as stand-alone computers; even the most lightweight enable the user to engage in the global web. Computers are just interfaces to the world community, and even the most basic computer will allow users to do 90% of what we all do with them.
Nonprofits in Canada and the US need to adjust to a world (within the next five years) in which everyone with a telephone or a television has a computer. Total lack of access to the Internet will be faced only by those who are institutionalized or in deep poverty. The lack of Internet access will create even greater barriers for those individuals. At the same time, the existence of almost-ubiquitous Internet access will put demands on nonprofits to put this incredible power to good use in the communities they serve.
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Gillian Kerr, Ph.D., C.Psych.
President, RealWorld Systems
gkerr at realworldsystems.net
Read my weblog at http://blog.realworldsystems.net
