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Simputer Runs Into Problems
dejaffa writes "It seems that an Indian Linux-based "computer for the poor" is having financial issues. This has implications for the world digital divide. The story is here (MSNBC, I know, I know). There were originally great hopes for it, as seen here, but money is proving to be the stumbling block."
... th story about Mandrake Hits Wal-Mart who are selling computers for less than twice the price is interesting....
...damn
As a third world citizen, I'd really like to see more projects like this one. I know a lot of poor, smart, tech-savvy children who probably won't get their hands in a computer in their whole lives.
Wat? You can't sell a computer for $200... i wondered why they were always more in the store. I figured t was the evils of multinational corporations.
when you try to base a real world business plan on sim-dollars(simoleans). The sims may be a pretty impressive environment, but it's not reality yet.
On the other hand, $200 would be a nice change for a cheap sim-puter. I always thought $999 was a bit steep for an entry-level model.
lysergically yours
Unless Gateway or Dell or any of the big computer makers can brand their name on this device this will never fly. There is no room for future upgrades, there is no room for a returning sale on this device. This will be a one time purchase and thats it, you will never see customer again. Unfortunately the ones hurt are those who would benefit the most and do not have that money to afford it. Sad Sad World.
Useless sig.
Realistically they could use paved roads for more benefit of the people. Although when you consider this country has nuclear missles and horrible infrastructure you have to wonder where their priorities are focused.
there's plenty of food for the entire human being (as reported by the recent FAO meeting) but people are starving because feeding the poor doesn't pay back.
there's plenty of money for the simputer but it has financial issues because, well, poor people won't put money into the economy of the internet.
so sad.
-- There are two kind of sysadmins: Paranoids and Losers. (adapted from D. Bach)
I am unclean!
They have a financial operation (increase of capital) that allows people buy new MandrakeSoft shares. Very interesting to read!
See http://www.mandrakesoft.com/company/investors/bsa
It also has a stupid name (it isn't simulated, it's a real computer). Plus poor Indians are unlikely to have electricity or phone lines, which kind of makes it moot anyway.
Does anyone else see the irony here? An idea conceived to help a nation with some of the poorest people in the world recover at least somewhat financially, and the people wanting to manufacture it cannot even afford to have it produced.
Wonderful.
-Peapod
While I can certainly understand the desire to get technology "to the people," I do have to wonder about the uses.
It is nice to think that a farmer could use such a device to get prices on equipment and such from around the world, however, what good will it do them? They still will probably be forced to buy what is easily provided.
Instead, this seems like a case where people are just hoping that a computer can magically fix so many problems. I don't understand it, how exactly is the computer supposed to be the answer that solves world poverty?
Should we not instead look to get more usefull technology to these farmers and other poor nations? Technologies that can in fact help them lead healthier more productive lives? Hell, a simple education could probably work wonders for many of them.
-josh
Computers aren't cheap. They never have been. When it comes to food, shelter, medicine, or computers, what do you think has the lowest spending priority for a poor person?
-evan
Perhaps instead of trying to sell the computer they should run as a Non-profit org, and collect computers, accept donations, sell banner placement on their site (to buy parts and pay for building) etc and give away computer to the poor?
Giving away computers to the poor would be a great thing. Perhaps when a person goes on Suplimental Security or Welfare (not same thing I know) the government should give them a computer too (it's not like they aren't giving them a good bit of money anyway).
Too bad this company is having problems, because I think it was a good idea
Tibbon
tibbon.com
You might be amazed at how much ppl who aren't a direct beneficiary would donate to them to further the same OSS cause.
It's really a shame that something like this can't take off in third world countries in its current state. It's well-intentioned, but I think it really only caters to a specific market, like the farmers or lower-class businessmen the article mentions. While surfing the net isn't a commonly held luxury for impoverished third-worlders, if you've ever tried to generally surf on a handheld, it's not easy or convenient. Many pages appear screwed up because they were designed for larger displays with different/higher resolutions. And other than just surfing, most people and family members wouldn't have much more of a use for that than the pen and paper or calculators they'd already use for math, writing letters, etc.
I have a Palm VIIx, but it isn't all that useful to me, even when I'm at the dorm. The wireless feature it touted so much is too expensive for most people to use (I got it as a hand-me-down from my dad). It also clips webpages and makes them look pretty weird.Despite being in college, either I'm not busy enough or organized enough to make good use of the calendar, though I do occasionally enter events into it and carry it in my backpack. The feature I use most is the address book, but every month or two I print off the list into a handy sheet I can fold and keep in my wallet, so I don't have to lug the thign around in my pocket (very uncomfortable, as I'm short and thusly my pants have small pockets). I can't always be wearing my jacket or backpack, such as right now that I'm at work.
who cares, poor people dont need computers, they need food. so better waste the money for something to eat than something they never understand.
The third world poor, like the poor anywhere, need basic food clothing and shelter, not a fucking computer!
How ya like dat?
What this company (and a lot of others) fail to realize is that the market for hi-tech devices isn't there until more basic needs are met. This goes for pretty much all third-world nations. There's no point in providing people with new technology when the "old" technology - indoor plumbing, running (clean) water, etc. isn't available to everyone yet. Solve the basic problems first, and only *then* try to sell them computers.
I think $200 is still too expensive to be of much use to craftsman and farmers. And what happens when one of these things breaks and you lose all your inventory information or records of who owes you what? I think paper and pencil is probably a much better use of people's time. People should be taught how to use computers in schools, but it does them a disservice to tell them they really need these machines. I fear this is just another way big companies wish to tell people how to live their lives and have gotten the intelectuals to prmote their agendas.
Reminds me of the big chemical companies promoting pesticides in the third world thus putting entire populations and countries into debt.
Don't fall for this crap. If it is a choice between a computer and a cleaner water supply, then go for the water.
A Simputer used to get on the internet and check land records has nothing whatsoever to do with poor people and whether they will subsitute computers for food. This is for mid level people, probably state employees who are sent out to do a job, it's for urban shopkeepers who need to check something online or students who nead and educational tool. In India that's MILLIONS of people.
The idea that the vastness of India is nothing but barfoot rice farmers and water buffaloes is frankly, insulting.
This is certainly not overly surprising.
Trying to get money for development aid is hard enough, getting money together bring comps to rural towns is low on the priority scale when food, shelter and disease are also at issue.
Doesn't mean we can't keep trying though....
"The large print giveth, and the small print taketh away" -Tom Waits
Mandrake may hit walmart. But it is still a PC.
Simputer was developed with portability and low power consumption (runs on standard AA batteries) as key points. Simputer is not meant for the standard redneck or Average Joe Yankee to pull the shopping cart with his PC to his SUV.
It is meant for the poorest of the poor, usually surviving on 1 or 2 dollars a day. You have information on the fingertips with a DSL connection. They are probably illiterate.
Your comment reminded me of a great line from the film SALVADOR...we are poor, you in Washington are so rich, but why are you so blind?
Tat Tvam Asi
Not everyone in India is a farmer - in fact it is one of the booming IT market among poorer nations. I went to India 14 years ago, and when a friend of mine who went there recently sent me photos, I was astounded to see the number of "Internet" and "e-mail" signs in the streets. Things have evolved so fast over there! You see, India is trying to go from an agrarian/industrial society to a digital one. In fact, a lot of Western companies outsource some of their coding to India. It seems Indians have a cultural knack for programming and mathematics.
If they feel like they need computers, then they need computers. The first world trying to decide what the third world needs has rarely worked, like trying to sell heavy farming equipment to people used to work their fragile soil with animal-powered equipment. Since it cost so much to maintain and repair, these expensive agricultural machines often end up collecting dust. In this particular case, I think recycling older computers (i.e. Pentium I and II) and giving them away to poorer nations which want them is a great idea. After all, they are the ones most aware of what their needs are...
Reminder: find a new sig
I just can't buy it.
I don't believe that this simputer effort even makes sense. Their are a lot of people here in USA that could afford a computer if they needed or wanted one, but don't have one, because they are not necessary.
It is hoped that the villagers who would use a shared simputer could afford to buy their own $2 smart card. How will those same villagers be able to afford the $5 worth of batteries that this thing is going to burn through 2 or 3 times a week, or even daily under heavy use?
What problem is the the the simputer going to solve for the poor Indian? Balance his checkbook? address book? Notepad? calculator? calendar? Surf the net on a QVGA screen? ( is their a phone? ) spreadsheet? database? email?
I can't see it..
]
Perhaps the gov't should just fine Worldcom ? billion dollars (that they misreported), and fund a free computer program for the poor...
Tibbon
tibbon.com
X-Box? The thing is a computer (fairly powerful one, actually), and it sells for $200. Of course, there really isn't an operating system for it yet....
The really do have troubles.
First, a tornado hit the factory. Then the workers rioted because local taxes are so high. As soon as that got fixed, the earthquake hit. What could possibly happen next, an alien invasion?!?!
There are 01 kinds of cars in the world. The General Lee, and everything else.
There are other alternatives to bridging the digital divide. There are many organizations out there that are recycling computers and selling them for $200 and that includes training.
Now if only the organizations would worry less about competition for computers and more about cooperation, we might be able to really bridge this gap.
people need clean water, food, a home and clothing more than they need a computer. That's where we should put money, not some PeeCee so peopl can play solitaire.
BC
Oh, but of course, this thing will run Linux, and we can't be helping people like that, can we.
Ok people, Lets get the friggin facts straight.
Despite what Western media and half of what Texas believes, India is not swarmed with people deprived of their basic needs. Although there are still parts of the country where people are under poverty, there are parts of the country where the community is much advanced. Heck! the state that I am originally from (look it up on National Geographic - as "Kerala" was named as the one of the best 50 places to visit), the literacy rate is 100%. Can any other place in the world claim the same ?
Rants aside, the Simputer was intended to help Govt employees, and employees of other corporations who had to send these people out to the remote areas of the country to educate and to help these people. You cant send them out to the far corners of the state with a notebook and a pen. You need them to have access to information, the same information that you would ultimately provide to the people who never had it. Understandably, food and clothing and a roof above your head are the basic amenities.
So please, if you really wanna know more about this country that you are so ignorant about, take a trip. Fsck the trip guides, ask someone who had been there, and take the untread path, and discover the heart of this beautiful country.
And while you are at it, dont miss out on my little South Indian state, learn more about it here
Rapid Nirvana
I agree much of India has surpassed some of the East European countries ( Romania for example ) They even have their own semi Ebayish site http://www.bazee.com
This is why you move in a family next door and give them a geeky kid. You then play around with the various object makers and such and have him whip you up a custom box for less cost.
I suppose with the expansions, you could even add a totally customized delivery service from some multinational.. I mean, I remember seeing an addon for 'Clown Capturers', so hey.
Well, because they misreported it, that means they don't have the money! They're going to be filing for bankruptcy soon. You can't get blood out of a stone.
Hey, they put the money somewhere (CEO's wallet, CFO's Ferarri, CFO's 24.5 million dollar house). It's somewhere, just they don't know where I guess..
Tibbon
tibbon.com
- Fight Palladium with the Great OS Freeze: tell your friends who won't switch to Linux to stick with Win2k or Win98
the OS Freeze only works until Microsoft doesn't release DirectX 9.0 or IE 7.0 on Windows 2000 or Windows 98, for purely "technical" reasons, yeah. if my friends (heck, if my DAD) can't play the games they want to play, or visit the website they want to visit (hotmail only working for IE 7.0 rings a bell as a future step once IE 7.0 support is not happening for Win2k or Win98) they will "upgrade" to XP.
as for myself, I won't be upgrading from Win2k, as I don't really play fancy games or visit fancy websites.
MORTAR COMBAT!
What were the advantages of Simputer anyway?
Does it have economies of scale like PC has? Two years from now, would it have competed with $200 PC's?
Does it have a familiar interface needed to succeed in a mass market?
And why does anyone have to spend money to install simputer access points?
How much money is needed to support its infrastructure, support, distribution, customer service, things which PC's already have streamlined?
The whole basic idea of a hand-held is for personal use & easy mobility. If it were to be 'installed' at fixed points & 'shared' among various users, why cant you use a PC for that?
Why wasn't money spent on installing PC's & training for poor to use the PC's instaed of some Linux zealots who thought they had some cool idea.
It is time for the govt to stop funding these ponzie schemes & concentrate on providing technology for the masses
SImputer is definitely not one of them, never was & never will be.
Cheers,
Roshan
Yeah, I'm having "financial issues" as well. Anyone care to send me some money?
All off topic of course.
>(look it up on National Geographic - as "Kerala" was named as the one of the best 50 places to visit), the literacy rate is 100%. Can any other place in the world claim the same ?
As far as being one of the best 50, I bet 49 other places can claim that. Literacy rate? I don't have any numbers to support it, but I'm guessing that Sealand has 100% (could be 50%).
Okay, I'm just fooling around.
Kenny
This was an interesting contrast to this story from just 10 days back. The problems remain the same, but the spin is totally different. Since manufacturing doesn't run on internet time, it is hard to conclude which one to belive.
I forgive you, since you are from Oklahoma..
Are there any people left there, I thought all it had were white trash folks living in trailer parks..
Oops..now thats biased..aint it ??
Q: What do you call a computer that sells for under $10?
A: An abacus.
I belong to the same sity as the simputer, and have been in touch with the progress. Firstly i think a lot of slashdotters are confusing the meaning of third world countries. A third world does country like india does not mean that everybody lives barefoot and goes hungry. Basically the concept here is that for the middle class ie people haveing one car 2 kids who goto school and comfortable life *cannot* afford PDA's because when we convert Dollers to Rupees 1000 Dollars menas 50000 Rs. In India somebody earning 50000 Rs/pm is in the upper class. So currently not only for poor even for middle class and cooperative societies that is steep. The $200 simputer will basically enable cooprative societies to manage their records, order stuff etc. Currently in some places, in the rural areas the internet is used to send request to companies to order products For example in a village in andhra when the farmers have a sufficent quantity of milk they send a email that the vehicle can come and pick up the stocks. This is a very rudimentry examply cheap computer will enable such things on a larger scale. Also it will benifit students who have the basic necessities but cannot afford such things. This is a small step. Maybe this will lead to cheaper computing that will be good for all, developed or underdeveloped
My Aurora : http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o91ZsGwJYyg
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A low serial number, special case, or cover at a premium price. I would consider paying more to have an early one and to help lower the price. The extra cash could go to lowering the price in the Indian market, and by getting the early runs out of the way the price could also drop. Also experienced Linux users could be more helpful in the programming debug process.
...this article from the BBC details a different approach to the problem of taking computers to the masses - make the internet accessible through one person, who goes round villages on a motorbike with a laptop which has some pre-downloaded web pages at the villagers' request.
It seems a strange concept: you might think that the things the article mentions the service being used for (local news, crop prices, government forms etc) were already catered for through newspapers and the postal system. But then I don't live out in a rural village in India, so I wouldn't know.
What both this and the Simputer project show, is that there is demand for such a service, regardless of whether or not we, who are totally isolated from the situation, think there is.
Like car accidents, most hardware problems are due to driver error.
--seems like it would be a lot easier to take the millions of scrap older computers that exist already, put on a stripped down but totally functional version of linux on them, and ship them to India at real cheap rates. There already exist these old 286's, 386, 486 ands earlier pentiums and on up by the zillion.
Now IF one of the big distro dealers was to jump on that bandwagon, at least provide the installation disks in some quantity so that the indian techs could set up assembly lines for the install over there, they would have ONE BILLION PEOPLE over in India think they were cool guys. Offer them at straight cost, get some SERIOUS market share going. Cd-r's are just not that expensive to pump out, and every single cd-r could install hundreds or thousands of machines readily. let the indians do the work.
Let me get this straight- India has 1bn + people, with many areas w/out running water, access to health care, education, etc, and they're worried about making sure everyone has a COMPUTER? If you're sick, can't eat, and can't read, what good is a computer going to do? Personal computers are a luxury item, not a neccessity. It's more important that people have food to eat, clean water and a sewage system, health care, and education (literacy), than making sure they all have computers.
This is like Ayn Rand's wet dream. If she were alive right now she'd be pointing at this company and screaming that it proves her point about Humanitarian buisinesses. OF COURSE THIS WAS GOING TO FAIL. Selling computers to the poor, and only to the poor? Where's the profit motive? Where's the money that is going to support this buisiness?
The Generation
I'd say something witty here, but I'm not that bright.
Iceland's literacy rate is 100 percent.
the literacy rate is 100%. Can any other place in the world claim the same ?
Cuba, maybe?
They are pricing this product slightly above a simple Palm handheld. They claim functionality somewhere between the Palm OS and Linux (or maybe Pocket PC?). And people wonder why there is no funding available? It would be more cost effective to buy a boatload of Palms or Visors, give them away and let the professors write applications for those.
Many of you seem to have forgotten this very important fact: Computers need RELIABLE electricity.
Most of the people in the world do NOT have electricity flowing into their home/village. If they do have it than the electricity is not reliable (outtages, surges, brownouts, etc...)
This just won't work until these socities evolve to the point where they can support the computers with a solid infrastructure
The Generation
I'd say something witty here, but I'm not that bright.
While a noble initiative, this won't work. "Rural" folks don't need computers. They've gotten along without them just fine before now, why mess with them? As far as I know, there is no killer app that would make an Indian subsistence farmer ache to have access to a computer. When a killer app comes along, some enterprising company will then fill the market need. And there will be no need for a group of academics to shove the things down "Rural" folk's throats.
There are other problems that will happen as Simputer wretsles its way into market. First, Microsoft is very popular in India, not important why. Second, and much important, is the problem of corruption. To reach the sales goals for a $200 system, Simputer are going to have to have political friends, and that I just cannot see happening. Corruption is so ingrained in Indian government there are even special laws to address it. Microsoft is not unique, just uniquely wealthy.
it was a stupid idea in the first place and i give you reasons why
1. 200 was waaaay to expensive. Goto amazon and you will see a mid range mono-chrome ipaq is only $15 with rebate
2. How likely is that a illiterate person will use a computer. Im sorry but there are more importsnt things.
3. The money spent on this could easily feed/educate millions
4. Technologically inferior. It doesnt run palm or windows. Sory but the linux i tried on my hand held wasnt all that great.
The war with islam is a war on the beast
The war on terror is a war for peace
You can't build a nation by focussing solely on the most basic needs. Sure, everyone needs to be fed, and everyone needs to be eduated. But technology is the only way to step out of the "underdeveloped nation" mould. Areas like pharmaceuticals or aerospace need millions or billions of dollars to be sunk in before any payback is seen. Software companies on the other hand can be started in one's basement, and grow dramatically from there... It may surprise you to know that 32 of the 45 software companies worldwide to be certified at SEI-CMM level 5 are based in India, and software is now among India's largest exports today, accounting for 33% in all. India's software exports have been growing at about 45% anually since 1991.
Perhaps this is redundant, given that the 'standard PC' is pretty much a public standard, but perhaps another way of building cheap computers is to evolve a good open source hardware design that can be assembled from cheap components, and which GNU/Linux will be guaranteed to run on. The economies of scale will then work to keep costs down.
We should be aiming at a $100 computer that approaches the power of a P100.
To all those people who say: give people clean water and education before gadgets, I'd point out that information equals money, and computers used in the right way (like cars, mobile phones, capital, property etc.) are an excellent way of increasing real standards of wealth.
Lastly, has anyone tried to run anything other than games on something like a Cybiko? It seems to be an excellent (robust and cheap) platform for small hand-held computing.
My blog
Imagine a Beowolf Cluster of THESE!!!
I remeber reading the original Simputer stuff last year and that had very different goals than those discussed now. People here are discussing if a single poor farmer could afford such a device and would it make his/her life measurable better? The orginal concept as I understood it was that there would be one simputer per town and a farmer could get goverment aid, file paperwork, market (as in vegeatble) prices, receieve email (as in free communications as opposed to pay post) etc....
......). The use has the best computer technology but most of that is in the form of desktops at homes of those well off, when you're out shopping, vactaioning or whatever, that desktop doesn't get you much, so a public data terminal would be a boost to every segment of the population. My countries in the world have email cafe's in every town, I haven't seen more than a couple anywhere in the US, I'm sure there are out there, but not enough to be able to assume that I could get info while not a t home.
In short it was a common shared resource to connect small villages and help provide goverment services that didn't make it out to rural locations. It might start as one per town and as it bacame more usefull (demand raised) it would be one per neighborhood, one per street etc.... . These seem like very realizable goals and it would be either the combined resources of a town or the goverment that would pay (~$200) for the Simputer to enable services and communication with said town.
This seems like a reasonable goal and one that would actually help small rural villages and with time increase to helping a wide portion not only of the poor or rural but be a standard community device. It would be helpful to any community, even in the US or other "rich" countries. It might replace the phonebook at a payphone, so that the phone listings are always upto date easier to use as it could assume that you are looking for the Bill Smith in this neighborhood rather than all the Bill Smiths in NYC. It could provide info about local stores, resturaunts, movie times etc... or access to communications for the homeless for those traveling (most people want to get email while traveling but don't want to carry 7 lb laptop, 3 lb charger,
The local phone companies need to start offering some sort of digital payphone so that I can keep in touch or lookup movie times after dinner etc.... I'd pay $.25 to $.50 just to know if I got new email, there is a huge market out there, everyone is just to afraid to put something in a shared area for fear that it will get vandalized.
No one is "starving" in the United States. All poor people in the USA have access to potable water, decent waste disposal and clothing. If they live on the streets it is not for a lack of shelters. As one [perhaps extreme] example, in NYC a homeless person has a right to a bed, such that the city will put them up in a luxery hotel if there is no more room in the shelters.
Most poor in subsidized housing have a color television, cable, a microwave oven, and refrigeration --if not a game console, a car, and a host of household appliances.
My $170 Sony Clie can do all the things touted in this Simputer (and more, considering no Simputer software even exists). All of the applications I run are freeware, and there are thousands of them. How is this $200 Simputer with zero developer support and no tangible hardware benefits (to those who would actually be using it) an improvement over my Clie?
Granted, the ability to run apps in native Indian languages is a big plus. But perhaps these people should try to work with some of the larger hardware and software developers to try to get the Palm OS and some of the more popular apps ported over to their native language rather than trying to start from scratch with an all-new handheld that nobody seems to want?
It seems to me they're trying to reinvent the wheel here. We already have low-cost handhelds that do everything they're talking about here. All that's needed are some tweaks to tailor them to the Indian market.
I think the spirit or the idea behind Simputer is a right one. A multilingual simple appliance like information gadget that doesn't need a degree in computer scince to operate or use.
This is a simple information appliance designed to ubiqutious, rugged, simple to use even by semi-literate people. Before anyone starts to flame me, this *can* be achieved using a visual interface.
But to brand it as a panacea for all the ills that plague Indians is plain wrong. It is not the magic pill that going to cure all the ills that plague Indian rural dweller. Give it him and what is he going to do about it. Check prices ? Good but what benefit does it bring it to him? In that case a cellphone would be more of a killer app that Simputer.
I think this will be usefull in a Cooperative kind of environment(Farmer's Cooperative, Milk Cooperative etc) where people would get access both to content and the machines.
shut up you little bitch
More high tech solutions for the poor here.
Creating top-down high-tech solutions for the poor is a good way to keep middle-class civil servants busy. The poor in India will adapt cast-off computer technology to their needs the same way they adapt old cast-off bicycles to carry heavy loads. They are not naturally stupid and are quite capable of determining what is the appropriate technology at the appropriate cost for a given situation.
Watching Cowboy Bebop in my jammies, eating a bowl of Shreddies.
In particular, the licensing terms from simputer.org are unfavorable to very small commercial operations: Any commercial exploitation of the Specifications (whether Simputer or Simputerized) involves a nominal one time payment to the Trust. The payment will be $25,000 for developing countries and $250,000 for developed countries.
So, what about a smaller kit company in a developed nation, such as Jameco or others? They're almost certainly not going to spend $250K for a Simputer license. But if kit vendors were allowed open access to the plans, specifications, PC board layouts, etc. we could see enough hobbyists building and using Simputers to create a small revolution.
At least, the royalty should be graduated according to the company's current size and profitability.
My point: sometimes, drawing a hard line in the sand between "noble" non commercial use and "lowly" commercial exploitation is silly, and I can think of innumerable examples in the world where lack of profit motive and strong armed egalitarianism ruined a market.
Ah yes, an Ebay-like site: the pinnacle of human culture.
I'd like to clarify the "cellphone increase efficiency" claim made earlier by a poster.
Cellphones decrease the amount of time needed to communicate something or organize a joint action, like being in the same place at the same time.
This is important for day laborers as those who need their services will expend less effort in communicating their need to the day laborer. How do you tell a day laborer that you'll need him right now, tonite, or early tomorrow morning? They are unlikely to be at home, don't have a landline phone, and come and go at irregular hours. When you can find a day laborer more easily, you are likely to require his services more often, for jobs which may have been too much trouble to organize before.
Another example: Often people call each other several times in order to meet in a cafe in the city (I'm running late, let's go to this cafe instead, can't find you, where's that street again), and then wonder how they managed to meet before cellphones. Well, they didn't meet, or they waited. Waiting was particularly common, I think, but cellphones have made this activity more efficient as well.
Weeeeee more breast enhancment spam in non english
"It's so convenient to have a system where everyone is a criminal" - A. Hitler
Everytime I think about possible applications for the Simputer, I am reminded of this press release issued a few years ago:
The Global Village
KABINDA, ZAIRE--In a move IBM offices are hailing as a major step in the company's ongoing worldwide telecommunications revolution, M'wana Ndeti, a member of Zaire's Bantu tribe, used an IBM global uplink network modem yesterday to crush a nut.
Ndeti, who spent 20 minutes trying to open the nut by hand, easily cracked it open by smashing it repeatedly with the powerful modem.
"I could not crush the nut by myself," said the 47-year-old Ndeti, who added the savory nut to a thick, peanut-based soup minutes later. "With IBM's help, I was able to break it." Ndeti discovered the nut-breaking, 28.8 V.34 modem yesterday, when IBM was shooting a commercial in his southwestern Zaire village. During a break in shooting, which shows African villagers eagerly teleconferencing via computer with Japanese schoolchildren, Ndeti snuck onto the set and took the modem, which he believed would serve well as a "smashing" utensil.
IBM officials were not surprised the longtime computer giant was able to provide Ndeti with practical solutions to his everyday problems. "Our telecommunications systems offer people all over the world global networking solutions that fit their specific needs," said Herbert Ross, IBM's director of marketing. "Whether you're a nun cloistered in an Italian abbey or an Aborigine in Australia's Great Sandy Desert, IBM has the ideas to get you where you want to go today."
According to Ndeti, of the modem's many powerful features, most impressive was its hard plastic casing, which easily sustained several minutes of vigorous pounding against a large stone. "I put the nut on a rock, and I hit it with the modem," Ndeti said. "The modem did not break. It is a good modem."
Ndeti was so impressed with the modem that he purchased a new, state-of- the-art IBM workstation, complete with a PowerPC 601 microprocessor, a quad-speed internal CD-ROM drive and three 16-bit ethernet networking connectors. The tribesman has already made good use of the computer system, fashioning a gazelle trap out of its wires, a boat anchor out of the monitor and a crude but effective weapon from its mouse.
"This is a good computer," said Ndeti, carving up a just-captured gazelle with the computer's flat, sharp internal processing device. "I am using every part of it. I will cook this gazelle on the keyboard." Hours later, Ndeti capped off his delicious gazelle dinner by smoking the computer's 200-page owner's manual.
IBM spokespeople praised Ndeti's choice of computers. "We are pleased that the Bantu people are turning to IBM for their business needs," said company CEO William Allaire. "From Kansas City to Kinshasa, IBM is bringing the world closer together. Our cutting-edge technology is truly creating a global village."
This is how people are going to be able to afford clean water, roads, etc.: because they can start to become more productive.
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.
Tat Tvam Asi
And we all know how fucking shitty any Indian "programmer" is. As soon as you have a problem with shitty Indian code, the programmer stops speaking english, and the body shop that provided him sends him back to India, where you can only talk to him at 3am.
Like I said, FUCK INDIA.
If it's so good THERE, why are you HERE?
Set up refurbishing plants in India, and (2) make jobs there as well as (3) supplying cheap computers.
Feed the process by prohibiting uncontrolled computer dumping here, but control it so it *does* result in cheap computers, not just toxic junk in India.
If Indians get the F**K out, who will do all the programming. Obviously not the extraordinarly dumb Americans!
99% of all curry-mexicans working in high-tech both here and in India can't program for shit. They spend all day on the phone talking to the 1% that can code, or they try to get whites or asians to do the work for them. Believe me, Indian programmers suck.
God dammit you fucking dumbass redneck, indians are fucking dot-heads not curry-mexicans. You fucked up even being a racist so just go fucking kill yourself now, real rednecks know the right slur for the right foreign motherfucker. Fuck it you shouldn't even be an American anymore for fucking that up. Go join the....hell, no one would want you, just take a bath with a hairdryer or some shit like that you fucking reject motherfucker.
I'm disappointed with some Slashdotters' approach to this topic. As a few replies have pointed out, equating the idea of India only with poverty, a backward rural landscape and an absence of most of the infrastructure that you are used to betrays ignorance.
What is surprising to me is that the people on this board don't know better. There have in the past been a few threads about the outsourcing of coding and s/w projects to India, and these threads have contained some lively discussion about the state of India's IT industry. Surely you don't imagine that this is an industry that exists in a cultural and technological vacuum?
And don't be too hasty to judge the Simputer and its future. You should also know that it is not meant to be a replacement for the device that you call a PDA. It is not, for its objectives are quite different - they are looking at serving the needs of a large developing country whose population speak a number of languages and which can benefit from making contact under conditions which you would scarcely find yourself.
Do a little background reading - you can start right here on Slashdot - and you might surprise yourself.
you can but a pc from walmart for 300.00
check it out...