>Taran
>More in deep: Which rentability?
>Anybody knows: to run LapTop, and, in general ICT, it is necessary
>training. Then the challenge is like this: "$100 million more for
>training or lost just $100 milliondolars?" Then Argentina (or
>bureaucracy deciding for spend $200 million) (most of $100 million
>for MediaLab) or simply lost $100 million (most of $100 million for
>MediaLab). That's reality, not my dream for one time!
>Regards,
>Victor

These and other points I've made concrete on international ICT lists
for the last few months, and have written about it in November of last year:
http://www.knowprose.com/node/9514

Google translations of that page are available by clicking the
appropriate flag on the site, as all other content on the site.
Some of the perspectives there have become more honed. Consider this
post I sent to the Digital Divide list, in response to a question from a
Chinese friend and a query on the $100 million dollar laptop:
----------------------------------------------------------------
>There's a $100 computer? :-)
>
> From the MISTICA list, I understand that Argentina has signed up
> for Negroponte's contraption. I lamented the loss of $100 million that
>Argentina could use on infrastructure instead, which would benefit
>everyone. My friends down there saw my point.
>
>If a 1 gigabyte USB stick is the length of my finger (and it is),
>and an operating system can fit into less than 50 megabytes (and
>more than one can - one desktop OS adapted is
>http://damnsmalllinux.org/ - also see the standard,
>http://www.symbian.com/ ) - and screen resolutions continue to
>increase (and they are) and the power requirements for systems are
>decreasing (and they are), then I'm sure Negroponte's laptop will
>get the success it deserves and continue to get the attention it
>doesn't. (For advocates of the neon windup toy, please answer my
>previous questions instead of ignoring them.)
>
>If we expect children to not consciously break their toys (and they
>do), then I expect trusting them with a device that an adult can
>accidentally break (as Koffi Annan did) is folly.
>
>If in 1999 (for the record, we're in 2006) someone could build a web
>server that could fit in a matchbox (and they did:
>http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/1999/02/990210070216.htm ),
>then we should definitely expect more from commercial entities and
>NGOs - and if you look carefully at what the commercial entities are
>doing, you'll notice that bandwidth usage is increasing, that
>requirements for processing are decreasing for systems that are not
>servers (like your mobile phone). Of course, Web2.0 requires more
>processing on the client side, and done properly it will require
>*some* processing.
>
>Some people on the list will disagree with me as they have in the
>past, but the future is literally in your hand. Your cell phone,
>which is usually much more than a phone. Phones transmit and receive
>data. Modern cellphones process data as well. When does a phone
>become a computer? When does a computer become a phone? The lines
>are not distinct anymore. I've reached a point where I am actually
>tired of carrying around a laptop - and I've only been doing it for
>one year as of February 25th!
>
>The 'desktop' is less relevant now. So what about developing
>nations? Mobile phone infrastructure is increasing (though I must admit odd
>things are happening in Trinidad and Tobago). Can anyone say that in
>5 years the developed nations will be focused more on mobile
>computing than desktop computing? No. But that's what I'm seeing.
>
>Honestly, I don't like it either. I hate telephones. But they are
>more ubiquitous than PCs, they have a better infrastructure worldwide, they
>allow rapid voice and data communication, and they work quite well
>as thin clients.
>
>We already have $100 U.S. systems. Most people just don't see them
>that way. The manufacturers are fighting for the ground floor right
>now. Shouldn't the future be what developing nations shoot for
>instead of antiquity?
>
>When my technology that I carry with me weighs less than my average
>meal, I'll be happy. :-)
---------------------------------------------------------------------

The future is not in your lap, it's in your hand. All the big
corporations know that. Even if the $100 laptop is successful, it
just switches the technology from typewriters to machines that are
more dangerous in landfills - and they will be as far behind as
everything else.

It pains me to hear that Argentina would sign up for Negroponte's
marketing scheme - which was also announced when the Simputer was
called a failure in the media! Meanwhile, the Simputer continues to
solve problems in India, there are Linux GSM phones you can build
yourself, and all sorts of things which allow a country to subsidize
an infrastructure by building it's own technology.

The references to rivers that I make pertain a lot to South
America. There was this medical student, once, who swam across a
river to spend
his birthday in the leper colony. That's what is needed, not cheap
computing that people send across the river and forget - which is
exactly what the $100 million dollar laptop is.

Taran Rampersad
Nearby Fri Mar 17 13:05:08 2006