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It seems that there is a lot of electricity in India :-)

However, I am not at ease with all that Simputer stuff. There is much hype, but what's behind?

It looks too closed to succeed. You have to licence a 'design' which is not much more than an Arm-chip Application Note. All seems one-way (there seems to be no forum, no call for participation, just a couple of guys trying to exploit the (nice) idea of 'a computer for the poor', no SourceForge community, nand OpenHardware one or the likes. If you look at the Google/Open_Source/Simputer directory, it is just hype, there is no forum, no CVS repository.
When you look at Simputer.org, there is no activity (the pages are ages old) and it links you to similarily dead 'commercial' pages (where people don't answer when you ask for information).

Why not just start from a LART or one of the existing LinuxDevices?

Don't get me wrong. I'd be pleased to see a Simputer succeeds, but when you start by asking money for a 'class-room design' with no community support, I am not sure that 'a computer for the poor' is more than an empty dream.

No one seems to even know what a Simputer looks like?

I am talking about information being available to the illiterate and the poor. It is not stock quotes and sports news.

I am talking about price of commodities, may be the weather, some new type of seeds (hope it is not going to be the Monsanto 'death' seeds), rebates, subsidies.

It is virtually impossible to convey the importance of information for these people. You need think from a different perspective.

The killer application for fighting illiteracy through internet is yet to be found. Simputer and ventures like that may help in the development.

From the FAQ:


# Q: Can I create a Beowulf cluster using many Simputers?

A: You must be a /.er; in which case you know the answer!


W

Indeed. And furthermore, what's up with that Information Markup Language specification? It seems counterproductive to create an XML doctype nobody's using for a machine which is supposed to be as simple as possible. It would've been better for it to use a subset of HTML such as is used by some already existing PDA browsers, and to just ignore the tags it doesn't understand. Then at least there would be a large base of information already available for its users.

Furthermore, at $214 it seems to me that it would make more sense for the target nations to import a bunch of discontinued and/or reconditioned laptops, e.g. old 486 models, or even those old B/W MS HPCs you can occasionally find on sale at discount places.

Poor villages in India and China typically share a single telephone. So I could see a village sharing a simputer, provided the simputer actually does something useful.

However the simputer page is very vague about what the simputer actually does, and why a villager would want one. The page which purports to describe the role of the Simputer basically states the simputer will bring IT to the masses. Well, yes, but to what end?

A worthy contender...

http://www.simputer.org/

Well not exactly 3d, but simputer is another hardware project which is released under the modified GPL

A lot of problems in third world development and disaster relief are not cash-limited, they're brain limited: we really do not know the best ways of treating epidemics in places without any decent high tech infrastructure, for example. Innovative ideas and approaches help: I've seen structures at Burning Man which were a lot better for their purpose than yer average disaster relief tent.

I think opening the design process up to the widest possible collaboration and really encouraging people to follow through could make a difference: kinda like the Simputer project may: a diversity of minds, of approaches, may be the best way to help the poor and the starving.

We can't wait for government to feed the people, you know? Too big, too slow. It's up to us. And it always has been - this is just one more way to help.

You can help the organisation either financially or by developing applications. Follow for more details including a mailing list for developers.

And do remember, it's target audience is farmers, small traders in developing countries. So, they require applications for these groups. For example, they are trying to developing financial applications that can give details about microcredit transactions of a villager in India, or one that gives details about land records, simple things else-where, but for which the bureaucracy has complicated procedures.

You can help the organisation either financially or by developing applications. Follow for more details including a mailing list for developers.

And do remember, it's target audience is farmers, small traders in developing countries. So, they require applications for these groups. For example, they are trying to developing financial applications that can give details about microcredit transactions of a villager in India, or one that gives details about land records, simple things else-where, but for which the bureaucracy has complicated procedures.

You can help the organisation either financially or by developing applications. Follow for more details including a mailing list for developers.

And do remember, it's target audience is farmers, small traders in developing countries. So, they require applications for these groups. For example, they are trying to developing financial applications that can give details about microcredit transactions of a villager in India, or one that gives details about land records, simple things else-where, but for which the bureaucracy has complicated procedures.

You can help the organisation either financially or by developing applications. Follow for more details including a mailing list for developers.

And do remember, it's target audience is farmers, small traders in developing countries. So, they require applications for these groups. For example, they are trying to developing financial applications that can give details about microcredit transactions of a villager in India, or one that gives details about land records, simple things else-where, but for which the bureaucracy has complicated procedures.

You can help the organisation either financially or by developing applications. Follow for more details including a mailing list for developers.

And do remember, it's target audience is farmers, small traders in developing countries. So, they require applications for these groups. For example, they are trying to developing financial applications that can give details about microcredit transactions of a villager in India, or one that gives details about land records, simple things else-where, but for which the bureaucracy has complicated procedures.

err...
The Zaurus isnt quite open source. They dont give the hardware design etc. Simputer can be called a trylly open source handheld.

Hardware apart, even parts of the Zaurus software environment are closed. Parts of Qtopia are closed, and licensed from Trolltech. Also, the opera web browser etc are closed.
In fact, there is a project, Open Zaurus is an initiative towards a tryly open software Zaurus environment.

1. 1.
2. It's designed by the people it is meant to serve. As much as I don't want to refer to India as a "Third World" country, some parts of it is. Maybe they know what there fellow countrymen need better than us (many of who consider a PIII under 1 Ghz passe).
   2. There's some pretty sharp people designing it. Check out the member's resumes. MIT, University of Pennsylvania, Purdue, Stanford, University of Maryland, etc. Most hardware companies in the US would pretty much kill to get these guys working for them.
   3. Sometimes "used and cheap" isn't the best. Although recycling older systems from the "First World" to the third has it's benefits to us and them, why not give them something fast to start? The software written in some village in the middle of nowhere might just help us all. As I recall some other good ideas that came out of India.
   4. It's not just a PDA. According to the objectives of the Simputer Trust this is meant to be a "low cost computational device ... for the rural, semi-rural and lower income bracket persons".
   5. It's built to take a beating. IMHO the Simputer should last a lot longer than any Palm or iPaq after a drop in a rice patty (or someplace worse).

Before you complain about the type/number of ports, screen or color of the case remember this: if you are reading this posting chances are you're not their targeted customer.

pherris

1. 1.
2. It's designed by the people it is meant to serve. As much as I don't want to refer to India as a "Third World" country, some parts of it is. Maybe they know what there fellow countrymen need better than us (many of who consider a PIII under 1 Ghz passe).
   2. There's some pretty sharp people designing it. Check out the member's resumes. MIT, University of Pennsylvania, Purdue, Stanford, University of Maryland, etc. Most hardware companies in the US would pretty much kill to get these guys working for them.
   3. Sometimes "used and cheap" isn't the best. Although recycling older systems from the "First World" to the third has it's benefits to us and them, why not give them something fast to start? The software written in some village in the middle of nowhere might just help us all. As I recall some other good ideas that came out of India.
   4. It's not just a PDA. According to the objectives of the Simputer Trust this is meant to be a "low cost computational device ... for the rural, semi-rural and lower income bracket persons".
   5. It's built to take a beating. IMHO the Simputer should last a lot longer than any Palm or iPaq after a drop in a rice patty (or someplace worse).

Before you complain about the type/number of ports, screen or color of the case remember this: if you are reading this posting chances are you're not their targeted customer.

pherris

The real reason, the simputer has been created is, the existing content on the web is not useful for an illiterate person. By producing low cost computers in local language,(in 2 languages at present) it gives an opportunity for content providers to target these groups with specialised content.
More links - Cnet article
Pc World article

BTW, the simputer comes with it's own license called the Simputer Public License. The Indian Institute of Science (IISC) and Encore, organisations behind the Simputer are not selling it & the news, is Manufacturers from other developing countries like venezuela, brazil, et al are keen on producing this Simputer.