overview
devices
issues
& studies
related:
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Digital
Divides
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devices
This page considers specific devices such as the Simputer,
VillagePDA, Volkscomputer and Hundred Dollar Laptop.
It covers -
the volkscomputer
The Brazilian 'people's computer' (computador popular
or PC Popular) or volkscomputer gained attention in 2001
but did not proceed to large-scale production and was
essentially forgotten by 2004.
The volkscomputer project was launched by computer scientists
in the Laboratório de Universalização
de Acesso à Internet (LUAR) at Brazil's University
of Minas Gerais, with the expectation that a low cost
device for community centres
and schools would "connect 170 million Brazilians
to the net" and "bridge the digital divide once
and for all".
Development of the device was endorsed by the federal
government, with populist NWICO
rhetoric about a uniquely Brazilian machine that would
represent the 'South' against the North's "information
and communication technology hegemony" and drive
economic growth in all industries.
The university's Professor Roberto Begonha commented that
its researchers aimed to develop a personal computer that
would be manufactured within Brazil and cost consumers
about US$300.
Our
objective was to build a computer within the standards
of personal computers now on the market that could be
produced at low cost with a basic functionality so that
lower-income people could have access to the World Wide
Web and all of the cultural and educational benefits
that it represents.
Others,
more problematically, spoke of major opportunities for
teleworking.
The prototype included a basic processor, a 56K modem,
an ethernet network card, speakers, a mouse and a 14-inch
monitor. The device relied on a 16-megabyte flash disk
rather than a hard drive. It featured ports for a printer,
external floppy drive and CD-ROM. The researchers expected
to use Linux to develop a web browser, email program,
wordprocessing editor and basic spreadsheet program.
The volkscomputer did not secure a manufacturer and -
once the media releases had reached the end of their shelflife
- substantial support by government was not forthcoming.
Brazilia had announced plans to use the US$500 million
national Fund for the Universalization of Communications
to supply a machine to schools, health centres and police
stations. That was reminiscent of 1980s 'New Society'
programs to put a television in every village, albeit
most villages or shantytowns in 2001 did not have cheap,
reliable telecommunications; many indeed did not have
regular power or sewerage.
The Caixa Econômica Federal was reportedly to offer
a two-year line of credit to low-income buyers for about
US$15 a month but that evaporated, along with federal
support, in 2002. Neither the university not the federal
government secured meaningful international funding for
manufacture or purchase of the volkscomputer.
It reflected Brazil's expensive tradition of IT autarky,
discussed in Edward Roche's 1990 Information Society
paper on Brazilian Informatics Policy: The High Costs
of Building A National Industry, the more detailed
1999 study (PDF)
From Industry Protection To Industry Promotion: IT
Policy in Brazil by Antonio Botelho, Jason Dedrick
& Kenneth Kraemer and The Microcomputer Industry
in Brazil: The Case of a Protected High-Technology Industry
(New York: Praeger 1996) by Eduardo Luzio.
the simputer
In India the handheld simputer
- 'simple, inexpensive and multilingual people's computer'
- under the auspices of the Simputer Trust (ST)
was subsequently and often extravagantly hailed as 'the'
device to bridge third world divides. One newspaper commented
that the Simputer was
the
biggest story to come out of the Indian IT industry.
It was to be the first time that a computing product
would be completely indigenously developed and marketed.
What made the whole idea sweeter was that it would be
a product that would take computing to the very interiors
of India.
In appearance the Simputer is similar to Palm personal
digital assistants, with models featuring a touch sensitive
screen with a stylus, handwriting recognition (the Tapatap
program), a smart card reader, an in-built modem, GSM/CDMA
data interface, GPS receiver and text-to-speech software.
It is based on GNU/Linux operating system, with specifications
released under the Simputer General Public License (SGPL).
Development of the device since 1998 appears to have experienced
recurrent project wander, with specifications being enhanced
and wound back, indecision about whether it would be a
PDA or desktop machine, usability problems (eg backlighting
of the screen and poor battery life) and an increase in
pricing from an initial US$100 to around US$215. Advocate
Professor Swami Manohar commented that
We
are not making a cheap computer. We are making a sophisticated
device that will make computing possible for everyone
Major
support by the Indian national government and NGOs did
not eventuate, arguably inhibiting economies of scale
in manufacturing. That was of concern because proponents
aimed for substantial commercial sales to individual users
in India and elsewhere (as distinct from bulk purchases
by government agencies for provision to community centres).
The ST initially forecast sales of 50,000 units within
three years. As of mid-2005 it is reported that between
4,000 and 5,000 had been sold, with few outside India
and problems with servicing. Enthusiasts argued that pricing
should not be an impediment: a unit could be owned collectively
or used in a telecentre.
That provoked comments that telecentres should instead
purchase standard personal computers - which indeed appears
to be the practice of some state governments - which are
close to being price competitive. Early uptake was possibly
inhibited by word from the MIT Media Lab in 2001 that
it expected to release a competing device priced at a
quarter of the Simputer.
Manohar lamented that
The
major problem has been the non-realisation of our belief
that once prototype Simputers were demonstrated there
would be a huge groundswell of support.
Its
future is likely to be as an Indian PDA, marketed to the
urban middle classes rather than to people at the bottom
of the social pyramid. Some Simputer manufacturers have
headed upmarket, with for example the Mobilis device (available
as a laptop and 'webpad') featuring a 7.4-inch LCD display,
weight of under two pounds, a claimed battery life of
six hours and a Linux operating system.
the VillagePDA and Morphy One
The Simputer fared better than the VillagePDA, a device
that was ambitiously expected to cost less than US$25
but essentially did not go beyond prototyping and whose
parent site is now offline.
As with similar devices, the US$25 target appears to have
been chosen for headline value and donor support rather
than a detailed consideration of what might go into the
device or how it would be used. The prototype was reportedly
displayed in trials conducted by the Environmental Liaison
Centre International (ELCI)
in Kenya and in Sri
Lanka. Its operation reportedly centred on Linux software,
a proprietary chip and a wireless Personal Area Network
(PAN) that used the Bluetooth standard, with several concurrent
users on that PAN having access to a single internet connection.
Development of the VillagePDA appears to have fizzled
following the dotcom crash but the device seems to have
been primarily aimed at aid donors and third world governments.
Pricing of the Morphy One, in contrast, appears to have
been pitched at around US$750 - arguably far in excess
of what most donors or governments would pay for a handheld.
The Morphy was under development in Japan before running
out of funds after delays in 2000. It was reportedly to
feature two flash drives, a monochrome screen (not backlit),
a battery life of around 20 hours and DOS or Linux operating
system.
the hundred dollar laptop
In 2005, some years after the announcement that a US$50
PDA for the third world was about to arrive, Nicholas
Negroponte of the MIT Media Lab proposed development of
the Hundred Dollar Laptop (HDL).
The proposal is associated with the One Laptop Per Child
group.
The proposed US$100 device will be a "Linux-based,
full-color, full-screen laptop" that will be WiFi-
and mobile phone-enabled.
The vision includes a 500MHz processor and use of "innovative
power", with the boosters at the
MIT Technology Review commenting
Since
many villages in the poor world do not have electricity,
the machines may be powered by either a crank or 'parasitic
power'--that is, typing. Once turned on, HDLs will automatically
connect to one another using a "mesh network"
initially developed at MIT and the Media Lab. In the
mesh network each laptop serves as an information-relaying
node. Households that have HDLs will be able to communicate
with each other by e-mail or voice calls.
Most importantly, Negroponte wants every mesh network
to have access to the Internet. The laptops will be
loaded with Skype, a communications application that
provides free telephone calls. Consider: the most forlorn
parts of the globe might become part of the wider world.
The
device is currently a specification rather than a physical
prototype and it is unclear when, indeed if, it will go
into production. Jaundiced observers might be forgiven
for commenting that the announcement is a useful distraction
from failed
overseas expansion by the Media Lab and criticism that
success in marketing the Lab's image has often not been
reflected in substantive output.
One Australian enthusiast for all things wireless sniffed
that "the strength of the $100 Laptop is in its colorful
case mimicking a laptop and the powerful marketing ability
of the MIT Media Lab". MacWorld's Cyrus Farivar commented
"the $100 laptop is a huckster's gambit - poorly
thought out, overly ambitious, and too sexy to be true".
Bill Gates, reportedly miffed because the HDL would not
feature Microsoft code, called for a specially configured
mobile phone that would serve as a computer when connected
to a television and keyboard.
Negroponte has characterised the HDL as "an education
project" for school children rather than a cheap
device for all users and as "both an electronic book
and a laptop".
At a WSIS event in Tokyo in May 2005 he commented that
Sadly,
most educational systems that recognize the important
need for computers meet that need with a roomful of
desktops to which a child might go for a few hours per
week. Computing should be like a pencil, you have your
own (versus community pencils) and use it for all kinds
of purposes, related to school, home, work and play
and
that
Bringing
the laptop home engages the family. In one Cambodian
village where we have been working, there is no electricity.
Thus the laptop is, among other things, the brightest
light source in the home.
He
is reported to be in discussion with the governments of
Brazil, Egypt, South Africa, China and Thailand with the
vision that they will purchase and give away 15 million
units.
Ndiyo!
Concurrently the Ndiyo!
project in South Africa proposed an ultra-thin client
device (the nivo), essentially workstations linked to
an open source personal computer.
The Ndiyo! vision is -
networked
computing that is simple, affordable, open, less environmentally
damaging and less dependent on intensive technical support
than current networking technology ...
Ultimately we are trying to demonstrate that there is
a different way of doing computing to the current "one
user, one PC" paradigm. We are not trying to control
this technology: the more people around the world who
are making a living developing, selling and supporting
systems such as these, the happier we will be!
The
aim is for a device priced in "tens, not hundreds,
of US dollars", with the project announcing
the
nivo already costs less than £100 to produce -
significantly less than the sale price of other thin-clients.
Manufactured in larger volumes, the cost will drop significantly;
ultimately to something closer to what you would expect
to pay for a VGA cable than what you would expect to
pay for a computer.
In
India the Novatium, another thin client device to be launched
in 2006, plugs into a television or monitor and any keyboard.
It has no hard drive or internal storage (saving a file
involves use of a portable USB key drive. Buyers would
pay US$10 per month for a network connection and access
to network-based software.
off the shelf devices?
Some observers have asked why reinvent the PDA wheel,
when a range of devices are already available. Those devices
include mobile phones (for example the Ultra-Low Cost
handset programme under auspices of the GSM Association
and Motorola) and standard entry-level PDAs or the AMD
Personal Internet Communicator.
The PalmOne Zire 21 PDA retails in North America for around
US$99; a version with a colour display and an expansion
slot is priced at around US$150 meaning manufacturing
costs are well below that. Proponents have suggested that
a Linux-based device with a built-in modem could be manufactured
on a large scale for around US$100 to US$120. AMD's 'Personal
Internet Communicator' (PIC)
is described as
a
low-cost, consumer-friendly, managed device that will
put technology into the hands of first-time technology
users in high-growth markets around the world, such
as India, Mexico, Brazil, Russia and China.
It
was developed as part of AMD's 50x15 project,
characterised as seeking "to bring Internet access
to half the world's population by 2015". Some forecasts
suggest that the device will be priced at around US$300.
Critics have noted that although the PIC is rugged it
requires an added keyboard, mouse and monitor to function,
so that the cost is well above US$300. It uses AC power
rather than rechargeable batteries and a built-in (non-upgradable)
version of WindowsCE, so that arguably it is not a credible
contender.
In practice major pressure is likely to come from traditional
personal computers manufactured in low-wage states such
as China or assembled by independents.
Lenovo for example is reported to be offering selling
its entry-level personal computer in Kenya for under US$400,
albeit without a monitor. That is too high for many individuals
but might be enticing if bought in bulk with aid funds.
Venezuelan demagogue Hugo Chavez announced in 2005 that
Technological Industries of Venezuela (TIV), a state-owned
joint venture with a Chinese manufacturer, will produce
Bolivarian personal computers priced around US$327.
Within the US, Australia and other advanced economies
there have been several attempts to transfer hardware
costs from hardware to connectivity, with commercial vendors
and community groups offering ultra-cheap personal computers
in return for a commitment by the consumer to pay for
internet access (or merely endure a barrage of web ads
and spam from the vendor's associates).
In the US for example Netpliance marketed the i-opener,
a US$99 desktop computer. That exercise fizzled within
a year after the Federal Trade Commission complained
the vendor was engaged in deceptive advertising, unfair
billing and violating a range of federal law. Consumers
had been required to Netpliance as an ISP, at around US$20
per month. In Australia a trade union affiliate ungloriously
spruiked discount devices and connectivity to union members
and community organisations.
Microsoft and Samsung released the Ultra Mobile PC in
2006. It is a bloated PDA, with a battery life of three
hours. It takes around two minutes to start up. A reviewer
in the New York Times was unimpressed
It
aims to bridge the size gulf between a palmtop and a
laptop, but winds up inheriting the worst aspects of
each. Like a palmtop, it feels claustrophobic, clumsy
for text input and, with its exposed touch screen, vulnerable.
Like a laptop, it's expensive, has short battery life
and requires two hands to operate.
recycled machines?
The KhayaComputer project in South Africa emphasised recycling
of personal computers, which were to be loaded with a
Linux-based operating system and open source applications
in that nation's 11 official languages. The project fizzled
after failure to gain substantial funding, uncertainty
about sourcing components and questions about a revenue
model based on sale of web/offline advertising space.
Providing 'pre-loved' devices to people in developing
economies has been criticised
as an exercising in offshoring 'e-waste'. The 2005 report
by the Basel Action Network 'Turn Back The Toxic Tide')
on The Digital Dump: Exporting Reuse and Abuse to
Africa for example argued that unusable equipment
is being donated or sold to developing nations by recycling
businesses in the US and elsewhere as a way to evade recycling
obligations.
Too often, justifications of 'building bridges over
the digital divide' are used as excuses to obscure and
ignore the fact that these bridges double as toxic waste
pipelines
The
report comments that an estimated 500 containers of used
electronic equipment enter Nigeria through the port of
Lagos each month, for a total of about 400,000 used desktop
machines per month. The majority of that equipment is
unusable and neither economically repairable or resaleable,
leading one misanthrope to comment that it is the West's
revenge for the 419 Scam.
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