No. 43

March 28, 2002


Technology:

Simputer

Remember Internet Appliances? Those stripped-down, limited-purpose computers without hard drives or peripherals, marketed as low-cost alternatives to full-fledged PCs? At first glance the Simputer looks a lot like a slightly repackaged Internet Appliance, so it is tempting to predict that it is doomed to failure. However, two important differences may give this yet-to-be-released device a fighting chance.

First, unlike Internet Appliances, it is not intended primarily for households, who already own PCs and may be interested in a cheap, convenient tool for checking their e-mail or looking up that recipe for cheese pierogi on the Web. Developed by an Indian company, Simputer will be marketed to people in developing nations, for whom computers are way.., way..., way beyond reach. Second, instead of relying on proprietary operating system and software, and thus forcing the users to bear the high licensing costs, it has been based entirely on free, Open Source software.

Some interesting features will also give Simputer, which, by the way, looks very much like a Color GameBoy, significant edge in its target market. For example: the built-in, SmartCard reader makes it possible to share the device among many people, say, in a village, without sacrificing personalization, since a user's personal profile can be stored on a SmartCard. Also, the included Text-to-Speech capability (initially with several languages spoken in India) lowers the barrier for minorities and people with low levels of literacy. While certainly lacking a lot of functionalities expected in a PC, Simputer, just like the wind-up radio, may well find its niche, becoming a viable option for tapping into the rich resources of the Internet for people with very few options.

Simputer:

Online Reading:

A Nation Online:
How Americans Are Expanding Their Use Of The Internet

This NTIA report based on the September 2001 U.S. Census Bureau’s Current Population Survey paints a very encouraging picture of a rapidly shrinking "digital divide". Some highlights:

  • More than half the population of the United States is now online, an increase of 26 million people in 13 months
  • The rate of growth of Internet use in the United States is currently two million new Internet users per month
  • Internet use is continuing to increase for everyone regardless of income, education, age, race, ethnicity or gender.
  • Computers at schools substantially narrow the gap in computer usage rates for children from high and low income families
  • Between December 1998 and September 2001, Internet use by individuals in the lowest income households (those earning less than $15,000 per year) increased at a 25 percent annual growth rate.
  • The percentage of Internet users in rural areas (53 percent) is now almost even with the national average (54 percent).
  • While 80 percent of Americans access the Internet through dial-up service, residential use of broadband service is rapidly expanding
  • Between August 2000 and September 2001, Internet use among Blacks and Hispanics increased at annual rates of 33 and 30 percent, respectively. Whites and Asian American and Pacific Islanders experienced annual growth rates of approximately 20 percent during these same periods.

Conference:

  • WebForce Conference 2002
    • Held May 6-8, 2002 in Geneva, Switzerland
    • The conference wants to construct a strategy in order to bridge the digital divide in the world. To help the world communication in all its aspects, theoretical and experimental. To apply a new original dynamics. To open the world to the technologies of information. Topics will include:
      1. Building digital humanitarian infrastructure
      2. Recycling and reusing computers
      3. Universal and equitable access to the information society
      4. Developing services and computer applications (open source) to reduce poverty
      5. ICT, education, and telemedicine

Online event:

  • Collaboration Technologies and Strategies for Teaching and Learning
    • CREN Tech Talk
    • Free, live, streaming audio broadcast from 3 P.M. till 4 P.M. EST on April 4, 2002
    • From the announcement: "Join the CREN Tech Talk co-hosts, Howard Strauss and Judith Boettcher as they quiz our guest experts Julie K. Little and John M. Peters, both of the University of Tennessee, about the latest technologies to enhance and maintain collaborative learning."

She said, he said:

"Broadband defines the Internet - there's no way around it. We're visual people, and we need the visual richness that can only come through broadband." - Wendell P. Weeks


© 2002 Vlad Wielbut and the Alliance for Community Technology