Three comments on all of this: (1) There was another initiative which garnered a lot of support from the government of India, and was heralded quite highly. It is called the Simputer, and it is in production but somehow lost all the supporters in a few years. Very sad for an open hardware initiative. Of course, because people don't understand what an open hardware initiative is, they don't comprehend that the design can be changed... instead, we get a bunch of different people thinking they can do it better but not releasing the hardware design as open so that anyone can build it. Quite sad, and also quite telling.
(2) Negroponte's gotten a lot of hype. (3) This message was written on a laptop that is operating off the grid, on a wireless network that is off the grid, with the only thing tieing it to your machine so you get this message is an ADSL line. In closing, I'll take one of these machines seriously when someone with one can do the same as the machine I am presently using, sending an email to this list from somewhere that doesn't even have a phone line. On 12/2/05, Lee Thorn wrote: > I hope this helps clarify things. > > From the New York Times on Jhai: "How do you bring the Web to people > who don't have phone lines - or even electricity? With a level of > ingenuity that would have impressed Robinson Crusoe, it turns out." > > From the Economist on Jhai: "He (Bill Gates) even wondered if it might > be possible to make computers for the poor in countries without an > electric power grid. The answer is yes, and things are going even > further." > > From the Wall St. Journal (1 Aug 05) in an article featuring Jhai: Dr. > Lynne H. Irwin talks about technology solving problems of poverty: "The > basic cure involves management, not technology." -- Taran Rampersad Presently in: San Fernando, Trinidad [EMAIL PROTECTED] http://www.knowprose.com http://www.easylum.net http://www.digitaldivide.net/profile/Taran Coming on January 1st, 2006: http://www.OpenDepth.com "Criticize by creating." - Michelangelo ------------ ***GKD is solely supported by EDC, a Non-Profit Organization*** To post a message, send it to: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> To subscribe or unsubscribe, send a message to: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>. In the 1st line of the message type: subscribe gkd OR type: unsubscribe gkd Archives of previous GKD messages can be found at: <http://www.edc.org/GLG/gkd/>
