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The Go-Anywhere Cyber Cafe In a Shipping Container
nk497 writes "UK IT charity Computer AID has come up with a clever idea to use shipping containers to house thin-client-based, solar-powered cyber cafes, which can be used to bring connectivity to rural communities in Africa. The £20,000 boxes use a single Pentium 4 PC split out using thin client devices to offer computing to 10 people via local wireless access or mobile broadband. The solar power created from a single panel is enough to power the PC, 10 monitors, lighting, and also to charge mobile phones. Computer Aid founder Tony Roberts notes, 'The power of this idea is that we can drop that container anywhere in the world, literally in the middle of the Sahara desert.'"
why not use amd?? more cores at less power then intel.
and a P4 with HT? Dual core? doing 10 VM like systems?
How much ram does it have 256? 512? 1g 2g 4g?
Most of the pricetag goes towards the mini Starbucks they fit inside there.
My webcomic
US Army living quarters in Iraq... You should look at how the prices shot up with the war over there kicking off and getting in full swing. Loads of containers went off the market over a very short period of time...
I am very sucseptible to "let's have another drink"
Internet access helps alleviate poverty in the same way that cell phones: by removing intermediaries and giving farmers access to up-to-date pricing information and buyers.
Or did technology that dramatically improves communication suddenly cease to be useful because you don't have derivatives to sell?
Those who can, do. Those who can't, sue.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UvcUe_yPHdg
http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2006/jun/15/20060615-122003-3483r/
I bet you've never seen the inside of a shipping container. You can get them with wooden interior walls, floor, and ceiling. Air them out, slap on a coat of paint, and you're good to go. People are buying them to make work sheds, etc., you can get a 40' for $1500 0 $1700 without even trying,
the US military uses converted shipping containers to house deployed soldiers in Afghanistan. They have lights, power, small window mounted heat/air conditioning units, and sometimes they're even wired for internet. Much more comfortable and private than tents or communal b-huts. Also, do you really need to let in sunlight to A) an internet cafe in B) the middle of the desert?
Notice that the problem in the first article had nothing to do with internet access, but with a certification process attached to their new crop.
Furthermore, what you fail to understand in your analysis of cell phone usage is that it takes only one person in the village to make one call to figure out what to do. The way it actually works is that someone who already has some money buys a used phone, and then resells phone calls to an entire village, or entire area. The costs are indeed spread out among many people, which makes the system work - as demonstrated by profits going up, not just revenue.
Seriously, if you want to critique something, at least know the systems in place. Not to mention that it is a straw man of epic proportions to argue that because neither technology was a silver bullet, it should never be used by anyone.
Those who can, do. Those who can't, sue.
If the power difference between a P4 and a modern CPU wasn't enough the change the number of solar cells required, then it doesn't matter if it uses extra power. Given the point of the charity is specifically to reuse old equipment, then they might as well pack up and go home if they have to buy all new stuff.
A P4 would be enough to run 10 users. 15 years ago I ran a 10 user office from a single 386. By today's standard it was slow, but it still worked. Considering that the communications in the remote regions of Africa is likely to be high latency and low bandwidth then it is not as if it will be possible to use Youtube or anything like it.