There has recently been a spate of publicity (e.g. the Christian Science Monitor) for the MIT designed laptop announced at the World Summit on the Information Society.
The idea of a low cost computer for developing nations is not new. We have been posting resources on the ICT for Development community page of the Development Gateway for some time on the Simputer and other efforts to develop low-cost computers. The Simputer has been a disappointment, but I recently read that it is to deliver a large number machines to the Indian army.
A good article on the past problems experience in Brazilian initiatives is provided by Paulo Rebelo on CNET News.com. But Brazil has just created a program combining low cost hardware, open source software, easy and cheap credit, and commercial distribution to put 500,000 low-cost computers in people's hands in the next six months. The Brazilian machines are to be priced at no more than US$ 440, which is competitive due to the high costs of imported computers in Brazil. iT is a computer produced at very low cost by Asiatotal.net, which the project leaders plan to give away (using subsidies one presumes).
In the United States, Wal-Mart offered a $400 computer retail as a "door buster" on Black Friday (the day after Thanksgiving, and traditionally the busiest shopping day of the year). Dell is currently selling entry-level PCs for $299; Gateway for 349.99. The Personal Internet Communicator is a bare bones PC which, without monitor, I found for sale at $129 at Radio Shack. Thin client systems, which seem to me to be an interesting alternative for school use, are advertised for under $200.
Reconditioned computers are available for less. The Computers for Schools association and the Computers for Schools program (in the United States and Canada respectively) seem to be successful in refurbishing donated computers and giving them to schools, bringing the cost way down. The approach has been extended to Latin America and the Caribbean via Computadoras para Comunidades
Now a number of companies have seized on the commercial opportunity offered by low price computers and the opening of new markets. They seem to be developing even more innovative ideas for low cost computers. The Microsoft x-Box 360 seems to be quite a powerful PC, selling for $300 as announced. (Clock speed 3.2GHz, 512 MB of RAM, 20 GB hard drive, Internet enabled, HD display capacity). Nintendo's gameboys should also illustrate what could be done in creating an affordable e-learning device to reach the huge potential market. The new Gamboy micro sells for about $100.
The Fly Pentop Computer seems especially interesting, abandoning the PC metaphore in favor of the paper and pencil metaphor. This cute gadget, costing $100 plus $35 for software) would seem to open new fields for educational computing.
The inclusion of people concerned with pedagogy, and not just engineers, seems to me very important in projects intended to put computers in schools. The MIT team includes Symore Papert, a trail-blazing educator. I would love to see a breakthrough in the way technology is used to enable kids (and adults) to learn.
Most ICT is commercialized for markets in rich countries. The trade-off between cost and powerful features tends to be made in favor of features. For niche markets, lower cost devices with fewer features find a place.
Moore's law continues to operate, and the power of microchips continues to increase as the price continues to decline. The PC's continue to decline in price, and continue to become more affordable in developing nations.
On the one hand, many teams are recognizing that the computer market in developing countries is potentially huge, and almost unserved. On the other hand, many projects have failed to develop a low cost computer on anything like the schedule they proposed.
I suggest the computer that finally reaches a mass market of the poor in developing nations will be different than that reaching the mass market in rich countries. Lower cost devices with free software and simpler features are likely to be involved, as compared with the market preferences in the U.S. and Europe. I suspect that it will be teams in Asia who first develop products to successfully tap that market.
No comments:
Post a Comment