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State Of The Simputer
2br02b writes "Readers might recall the Simputer (Simple, Inexpensive, Multilingual Computer) whose story Slashdot has been following over the past few years, including its release in October 2002 and most recently the Scientific American article in November. Rediff.com has an informative overview on the status of what was introduced as a low-cost computer for the poor to be sold for under Rs 10000 ($200). Of the two companies that have been given licences, one has yet to put the product on the market while the other is only looking at bulk sales at prices from Rs 12000 to Rs 20000 ($400). Only between 1500 and 2000 Simputers are out on the market."
If that's where our tech support and software development jobs are going, then their wages will go up, and an increasing number of them will be able to afford the simputer, right? As for those knee-jerkers who say, "let's provide food, water, etc. first" please remember that this is being marketed and sold by a private company that has no obligation to address those sorts of social problems. If anything, increasing a country's tech literacy helps increase the general prosperity
They fucked up. $400 is way too expensive for a poor indian person to afford.
"Well, it's not a cheap computer.
Its proponents have since discarded the buzzword -- 'cheap computer' -- that brought the Simputer into the limelight.
"We are not making a cheap computer. We are making a sophisticated device that will make computing possible for everyone," declares Professor Manohar."
What a crock of bull. How is computing possible for "everyone" when "most" Indians can't afford to spend $400 on a PDA?
Mac OS X and Windows XP working side by side to fight back the night.
>If you give poor farmers in Africa, India, ... computers, they could use them to improve there farming and harvest more food or to make a better profit selling their harvest.
Of course, because behind every third world poor farmer is a computer programming genius who can just program C/C++ his way into better and efficent ways of growing things.
Next on freshmeat.net: GNU/RainMiracle.
The surprise isn't how often we make bad choices; the surprise is how seldom they defeat us.
1. AA batteries, not AAA or fixed rechargeable Li-ION. AAA have a terribly low capacity (~450mAh compared to up to 1900mAh for AA).
2. Cheap and robust external power supply. Batteries are expensive.
2. B&W screen, for godsake. Color is luxury, make a high-contrast large, protected B&W screen that can show decent amounts of information.
3. Little chiclet keyboard that plugs in to a mini-USB slot. Something like the old Spectrum keyboards, cheap, nasty, unbreakable.
That would make it cheaper and more useful. Imagine a computer you'd happily give to an 10-year old, no matter if it breaks.
Lastly, I'd add bluetooth because it's a tiny extra cost, only a few $, and provides unbreakable networking and connectivity better than any physical connection, and make the whole thing run on a stripped-down embedded Linux.
Ceci n'est pas une signature
The same old dumb argument, like poor people only need food and water to graduate from illetarcy into smart ones like this poster.
On the same logical reasoning, poor coutnries like India should not have space programmes (go into space, what for ?), or any such advanced technolgy pursuits since basic amenities like "Food and Water" are still a scarcity in rural India, so...
Development does not enatil just providing food and water, it also includes economic development with the work alongside, so that you can compete in the world economy.
Farmers in rural India can do with instant informatin about crop, fertliser prices etc so that they can better their yeaild and bring their procude faster to market. Thigs like technoloigy will help them in this regard.
See even developed nations like the US and EU have subsidies for their farmers ( and not poor ones by any means) since they cant compete against produce from developing nation sin terms of yeild and quality and price. As a result the WTO meet failed since they wouldnt remove subsidies.
So just food and water does not make a developed nation out of a developing nation - not anymore.
[This is recycled from something I posted about a year ago.]
Alice is a shrewd 17 year old who plans to build on her investment in a Simputer and a cell phone until she achieves world domination. With the optimism of youth, she figures that will happen when she's about 25. After all, she needs two years to pay off the Co-op loan she took to get the things, and then she needs to really learn how read and write, too. That might take a little while. But she's willing to put off starting her family until she's 25. Much as she wants kids, she wants to be rich, first.
One of Alice's clients of the day is Bob, who is a 28 year old who has a full set of socket wrenches, a number of other tools, a backpack, and an excellent memory of the exploded diagrams of the half dozen different types of Briggs & Stratton engines that are in use within walking distance. Today he brings Alice a broken fan belt from Chuck's rototiller. With him helping her figure out the part identification code, Alice is able to find a store that has a replacement in stock, fifteen miles-- a round-trip walk of only a day-- away. That's much better than the fifty mile trip to the city.
Chuck, who tagged along with Bob in a very worried fashion, is delighted at this good news. Three years ago his tiller had also broken down in the middle of planting season, and it had taken a week of sending a runner around to the distant towns to find the needed part. A week without work had thrown off the usual schedule, and while his farmer clients understood these things happen, some of their wives were angry at him because their kids had to be pulled out of school to hoe the fields, and those families had become the butt of village jokes for months. Nobody likes to be called "old fashioned", not that way. Chuck had lost something much more important than just the loss of income in that debacle, and he did not want to repeat it.
Alice, the shrewd businesswoman, suggested that if Bob and Chuck wanted her to, maybe she could try to broker a delivery deal and get the new belt into Bob's hands before noon. At first they thought she was joking: same day delivery, better even than the mythical FedEx! But after a few minutes of enjoyable haggling, the three agreed to a payment. Then Alice chased them out of hearing distance, while she did furtive things with the internet access and the cell phone. No, I won't reveal her trade secrets, so don't ask me. Something about a regional network of teenage girls with Simputers, but you didn't hear that from me.
The upshot was that 10 minutes later Chuck started sloshing across the western marsh to the highway, where he was to flag down a Frito Lay delivery truck heading east. The driver would give him the fan belt, and also a dozen batteries and a bag of potato chips for Alice. Meanwhile, Bob went back to the rototiller and began removing cover plates and things that needed to come off before the new belt could go on.
End of story: Chuck is back in business before the day has even started to get hot. Bob's reputation for fast, friendly, quality field service is even more enhanced. That evening Alice counts the day's take with a laugh, and then gently tells her latest suitor that no, she's not yet ready to marry. There is a world out there and she is going to claim her piece of it. Marriage and children have to wait awhile.
[It seems like this original vision is not going to happen-- reality always gets in the way of guiding visions. Nevertheless, if low cost computers promote coop purchases of supplies or coop selling arrangements, these Simputers would improve the lives of villagers.]
And why should poor people be buying books? I mean they can just go to the library, right?
And why should poor people be buying toys for their kids? Send them outside to play, or let them go to a park!
This mentality is so shortsighted. These things that you consider a luxury for a "poor" person are actually great ways to encourage your kids to learn and enjoy learning. By buying your kids books, educational toys, even a computer you are encouraging them to enjoy learning and setting an example for them, showing them that education is important and should take precendence to other items in a budget.
Those are very positive lessons.
And of course there are other ways to do this, and over-extravagence even when buying positive items is sending the wrong message. But I for one think it is important to show kids early on that an investment in education is a very important thing.
I think a reasonably priced computer is a very good way to encourage learning at home and priorities in making wise purchases. Involve your kids in the purchase and tell them why you think its important.
BTW, I'm not defending the PC mentioned in the original story. I don't have an opinion either way on these things. But in general, a computer can be a good investment, if properly approached.
Taft
Why does everyone keep saying "poor Indian" again and again. It ain't all that poor at all. India is the largest consumer of gold in the world. Indian programmers are among the best in the world (no offence to others). If you visit India you will see that the social system is very strong. Relatives help others, and strangers help others too. That is the reason that we do not have any social security system. Kids take care of their parents, unlike here where they go and dump them in an old-age home. People are overall a lot happy than they are in the west. IMHO.
>> have to wonder whatfor people living in some ... slum need a computer! ...
>>I'm a programmer now.
Enjoy it while it lasts. I can't help but wonder how long before your company outsources your job to some kid with a Simputer willing to work for 35 cents a day? Ouch!
> I don't think there is much point in this.. a mobile phone could encapsulate most of this functionality for a quater the price. Simon.
That's true for us rich westerners.
Fancy smartphones are sold to us at a loss by the telcos because they assume (and it's a risk) that they'll recoup the cost as we use data services
over a fixed term contract with inclusive rental charges.
Ask Vodafone how much a P800 would cost with no contract and you might find the Simputer starts looking like good value for money.
And let's not assume that its only value is in the hands of random end users - who obviously can't afford it.
Take a nationwide census as an example. Put one of these in the hands of the (thousands of) census takers on the ground and they'll (hopefully) gather more accurate data faster. With this information it's possible to spend development money more wisely on those who are never going to see a computer in their lives.
Another example would be stock control of perishable foodstuffs, each employee in the warehouses would have one, the benefits are obvious.
Yes its "expensive" technology and beyond the reach of most, but that doesn't mean it can't be a worthwhile investment in the right circumstances. It may well be the cheapest (real) solution if the right apps get written.
I guess we'll have to wait and see...
IIRC the whole point of the simputer, was to produce a cheap multi-language system that would work reliably in third world conditions i.e. areas with unreliable or no local power, high levels of dust etc. for sale to poor governments, NGA's etc. for use in educational programs. The ideal setting is one set up in the "mud hut" one room school in a small rural village. The teacher uses it for classes, both for the village children and adults. Yes our obsolete systems could be donated, but if they sit unused because of overheating and dust or a burned out power supply, due to the poor local electrical system etc., then all we have done, is save space in our own landfill.
Currently in india, as soon as a community gets electric power, the first thing they buy is a TV.
The tv becomes their gateway to the rest of the world-- a one way feed.
if you really want, you should build a computer that costs 150$ linux machine and uses the tv as a monitor-- i think that would be a more ideal solution. Basically, if walmart can make linux machines and sell them at $200, it shouldn't be that much harder to bring the price down by 50.
in cost in rupees, that would be 7500/- cheaper than the simputer.
I was in Malawi and Zambia a couple weeks ago, and it was funny to be driving in a beat up 1970's japanise minibus down a dirt road past mud huts, and have the african next to me answer his cellphone.
Mod my comments down. It'll be fun.
The Peninsula Linux Users Group (PenLUG) will be hosting a talk on the Simputer at their September 25th meeting down near Redwood City, in the SF Bay Area.
The same speaker will be visiting the Linux Users' Group of Davis (LUGOD) on October 20th, near Sacramento, Calif.