[geeks] $100 One Laptop Per Child - grist for the mill

[Mike Hebel]

On Nov 18, 2006, at 11:43 AM, William Kirkland wrote:

> On Nov 18, 2006, at 9:20 AM, geeks-request at sunhelp.org wrote:
>
>> Message: 7
>> Date: Sat, 18 Nov 2006 18:20:59 +0200
>> From: "Geoffrey S. Mendelson" <gsm at mendelson.com>
>> Subject: Re: [geeks] $100 One Laptop Per Child - grist for the mill
>> To: The Geeks List <geeks at sunhelp.org>
>>
>> On Sat, Nov 18, 2006 at 09:41:43AM -0500, Patrick Giagnocavo wrote:
>>> --There are cell phone network everywhere in Africa and Asia, with
>>> 3 or
>>> 4 carriers even in run-down places like Nigeria.  All the
>>> equipment is
>>> new and has 3G and MMS GPRS, etc. capability.  Lots (and I mean lots)
>>> of people have cell phones, so what you need is a USB cable to go
>>> between the cell phone and the OLPC and a tiny device driver.
>>
>> I blogged about a satellite system that could be installed in a
>> village
>> and provide data downloads for MP3 players, laptops etc. The cost of
>> the hardware with off the shelf components about $500, with custom
>> components around $300.
>>
>> I'm in the process of filing a U.S. provisional patent application
>> for it
>> and shopping it around for funding.
>
> The difficulty here is that those people have more basic needs which
> must be addressed before providing inexpensive laptops becomes useful.

Yes and no.  Access to knowledge about insects, crop growing, weather 
conditions, free trade sites, etc.  are all things that would help a 
lot of these people.

That and I'm sure there's quite a bit of free education available out 
there on the net. ;-)

Mike Hebel
----
There is something you can't give up. There is something you want to 
protect. There is a time you must take a stand, no matter what kind of 
pain awaits us. The man clad in the red coat took up his gun once again 
in order to stop the sadness, in order to stop the hate. I keep the 
word of the red geranium, which I was taught so long ago. I keep the 
courage and determination deep in my heart. - Vash