Hi, I have followed the conversation so far, and Taran has made some good points about the Simputer vs a notebook.
There are other issues that a lot of people do not think about in the design of a computer system for developing nations. Replacement parts: One of the things that often breaks in a computer system is the muffin fan. This is particularly true in areas that are windy (sand and dirt being blown in) or salty (island nations, costal regions). Muffin fan goes, CPU (or other component) burns up. You could build systems that use lower power, but even some of these designs have an ambient temperature need that is lower that some of the equatorial regions allow. The same thing goes with disk drives, even "sealed" units, although this is more in the salty areas. A friend of mine in the islands tells me that the average PC lasts about three years before it is hopelessly corroded by the salt air. Another thing that goes is the keyboard. Spills, dust, dirt, symbols being worn off the top of the keys, missing buttons, etc. are all things that can render a keyboard useless. A sealed membrane keyboard eliminates a lot of this, but a lot of people do not like them for touch-typing, as the tactile feedback is not normally that great. Better to have a replaceable keyboard, or one that plugs in. The reason that this is so important is that not only are the replacement parts expensive, but so is shipping. And installation of the replacement parts is difficult for the literate, much less the illiterate, which was part of the Simputer's design center. At www.solarpc.com they have designed a low-power, non-moving part computer that has a TWENTY YEAR WARRANTY. This does not include the keyboard, mouse or monitor. I can not get that type of warranty on my refrigerator, much less on my notebook computer. When my notebook dies, I typically have to send it, along with my disk, data and everything, back to the manufacturer for repair. It takes two days just to get to the repair center and back. How long would that take in the middle of India? I travel a lot....and live in fear of my notebook dying on the road. Therefore I back up my data to a flash card. A friend of mine does not even carry a notebook. He carries a copy of Knoppix (runs as a "live disk" off the CD) and his data on a flash stick. He boots Knoppix on whatever computer, and then mounts his "data". With the removable media acting as the primary disk for the Simputer, you could use another Simputer until the broken one was repaired. A village might be able to afford two Simputers, but not two notebooks. Power supply: ============= Internal rechargeable batteries are great.....if you have a power supply. But if you do not, having the ability to use standard AA or AAA batteries (or rechargeable AA or AAA batteries is essential, particularly if you are going to be away from your power source for a couple of days trek. This was the one disappointment in the current edition of the Amida Simputer, was that this particular implementation used an internal rechargeable battery. But WAIT! The Simputer is a freely licensable design! There were (and I think still are) also plans for the ENCORE Simputer, which DOES use two AA sized batteries, and can be charged internal to the Simputer with an external AC adaptor (http://www.ncoretech.com/simputer/simputer/specs.html). No charger handy? Just put in some regular AA batteries, and keep on computing. LCD Screens: ======== Big LCD screens use lots of power, and break easily. Little screens use less power and break less easily. It is sometimes better to leave "big screens" to desktop systems. Portability: ============ Ever carry a regular size notebook for a LONG time? It gets heavy. And when you are out in the field for days, lugging it everywhere is tiring. I know. Been there, done that. Impact resistance is another issue. IBM has made a notebook that senses when it is falling and "seats" the disk (hopefully before it hits the ground). Nice technology, but not foolproof. Solid-state disks eliminate this issue. Boot-up time is horrendous on a notebook, but my Sharp Zaurus "turns on" in one second, as it NEVER "reboots", unless I tell it to reboot. Yes, you can "suspend" a notebook, but that drains power in a lot of cases. On the other hand, a PDA is typically limited in what it can do....with the addition of USB disks, keyboards and mice along with connecting the Simputer to a network (through USB adapters or cellular phones) and headphones/michrophones and speakers you can have a fully functioning "desktop" system to do VoIP or other telecommunications. So perhaps instead of paying five or six hundred dollars for a PDA that has a phone built in (the PalmONE Trio comes to mind), this unit could do all that, and a lot more. And it is not tied to any one type of phone or phone system. As Taran says, the Simputer was designed (and FIELD tested) for a very specific market. Let's let him give us more feedback on the unit. Warmest regards, maddog -- Jon "maddog" Hall Executive Director Linux International(R) email: [EMAIL PROTECTED] 80 Amherst St. Voice: +1.603.672.4557 Amherst, N.H. 03031-3032 U.S.A. WWW: http://www.li.org Board Member: Uniforum Association, USENIX Association (R)Linux is a registered trademark of Linus Torvalds in several countries. (R)Linux International is a registered trademark in the USA used pursuant to a license from Linux Mark Institute, authorized licensor of Linus Torvalds, owner of the Linux trademark on a worldwide basis (R)UNIX is a registered trademark of The Open Group in the USA and other countries. _______________________________________________ DIGITALDIVIDE mailing list DIGITALDIVIDE@mailman.edc.org http://mailman.edc.org/mailman/listinfo/digitaldivide To unsubscribe, send a message to [EMAIL PROTECTED] with the word UNSUBSCRIBE in the body of the message.
