hmm - this seems like yet another case of misdirected technological benevolence...
Keepod Unite: $7 PC to bridge the digital divide
21–30 of 46 posts
Re: Keepod Unite: $7 PC to bridge the digital divide
#22OK, bootable USB OS. Considering it's for 10 digits of people at the bottom of the technological learning curve on little more than trashed hardware, how confident are they that each copy WILL work on any/all combination of host hardware & users?
This seems the kind of thing has a very high "fiddle factor": gotta fiddle around to make it work, something hardcore geeks love but few other can get anywhere with.
Re: Keepod Unite: $7 PC to bridge the digital divide
#23The misleading title will hurt.
Oddly I'm sure you can have a cheap computer that would connect to a TV, something like a raspberry pi.
What about the internet ? I doubt that project will connect people to the internet.
And why are we talking about giving the internet to poor countries, what's the real benefit ? What a stupid charity. Internet infrastructures have a cost, and this project is not about financing that.
And are you sure most refurbished computers can boot from USB anyway ?
You could present this minimal OS USB stuff to anyone and they would say "meeeh", but wow, for a poor fella, now it's genius ? And how do you educate people about how it works ? Good luck.
Re: Keepod Unite: $7 PC to bridge the digital divide
#24It seems expensive to me too, $38k for 1 "slum".
They better be sure to make the OS partition not writable by default (and somehow lock it until update) or these things will be garbage in short order. A botnet owner could target these things and have quite the army...
I'd also love to see them get some bigger blocks of data that solve the lack of interent. Eg: 4GB wikipedia download, CC image packs, khan academy videos (K-12?) those sorts of things.
Re: Keepod Unite: $7 PC to bridge the digital divide
#25Remember there are huge logistical costs in getting the refurbished pc out there as well. So $7 seems reasonable as they will get the USB drives for maybe $2 at scale, there are other costs involved in overhead.
I wonder if you guys would be more likely to support this if it included a buy one give one model. I.e. $20 gets you your own keeps as well as sends someone one?
Re: Keepod Unite: $7 PC to bridge the digital divide
#26OK, bootable USB OS. Considering it's for 10 digits of people at the bottom of the technological learning curve on little more than trashed hardware, how confident are they that each copy WILL work on any/all combination of host hardware & users? This seems the kind of thing has a very high "fiddle factor": gotta fiddle around to make it work, something hardcore geeks love but few other can get anywhere with.
Since they're providing the shared recycled PCs it will run on, they can in fact test it before it's in the field.
Re: Keepod Unite: $7 PC to bridge the digital divide
#27It's not a PC, it's a bootable USB drive. It's not going to "bridge the digital divide" as it still needs an x86 processor and a monitor. This is a more practical approach to connecting more people to the digital universe. http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aakash_(tablet) So is this. http://m.androidcentral.com/intel-introduces-yolo-android-ba... I don't know what this company aims to do by handing people who can't affo…
> It's not going to "bridge the digital divide" as it still needs an x86 processor and a monitor. Cool thing is that we occidental ppl send plenty of old computers to make gigantic piles of dangerous trash in poor countries. By sending USB sticks along they might prove useful.
until those piles of usb sticks become trash too
Re: Keepod Unite: $7 PC to bridge the digital divide
#28Why don't you just install the os on the refurbished pcs when you distribute them? Am I missing something? What is the point of the USB stick?
Re: Keepod Unite: $7 PC to bridge the digital divide
#29If only it were so easy as just making these cute little computers, dropping them off in some slum with no supporting infrastructure, and saying "Good luck!"... And that spiky-haired mascot...could you make a more loathsome looking thing?
> And that spiky-haired mascot...
"Keepod" means "porcupine" in Hebrew, hence the mascot. The narrator even pronounces it correctly in the video.
Re: Keepod Unite: $7 PC to bridge the digital divide
#30It's a $7 boot stick, not a PC Better idea just give people $3 microsd cards with $1 usb adapters.
That's part of the idea, yes. But I think the big reason they need money is to source the old computers, probably do a bunch of testing to make sure they work well enough, and distribute them to their audience.
EDIT: I'm not saying this is a bulletproof plan, by any means. I just wanted to point out that there's probably a lot more to their cost structure than "flash a bunch of USB keys."