Saturday, May 10, 2014

$7 Keepod: Internet access upgraded

If others are anything like me, there is a certain built-in, blase assumption that comes with the computer I work on. It's here, it works, its educating or entertaining functions are at my fingertips ... basically it's like soap in a soap dish or toothpaste in a toothpaste tube.

And I don't think much about its implications and what life might be like without it.

Nor is life without it so much an opportunity for a self-congratulating, liberal whine. Rather, and roughly, I guess I think that the less anyone knows, the greater the likelihood of widespread greed and bloodshed, and the more anyone knows, the greater the likelihood of widespread kindness and social peace.

A "likelihood" is not a promise, but still I think there are better odds and what's good for you has the potential to be good for me.

And it is in this regard that I liked seeing that a small idea holds out some promise of spreading the Internet wealth. To read and write; to see pictures of a beast or activity never seen before; to hear words in a different tongue; to witness a wedding ceremony awash in rituals never witnessed; to find delight or distress in some new music....
The USB flash drive is one of the most simple, everyday pieces of technology that many people take for granted.
Now it's being eyed as a possible solution to bridging the digital divide, by two colourful entrepreneurs behind the start-up Keepod.
Nissan Bahar and Franky Imbesi aim to combat the lack of access to computers by providing what amounts to an operating-system-on-a-stick.
In six weeks, their idea managed to raise more than $40,000 (£23,750) on fundraising site Indiegogo, providing the cash to begin a campaign to offer low-cost computing to the two-thirds of the globe's population that currently has little or no access.

3 comments:

  1. Hello Chateau,

    From time to time somebody or organization comes up with cheaply assembled, unpowered machines to give away in third world countries. Often while not readily visible these units come with strings attached. Usually to create goodwill in order to make inroads inot a given country to make money down the line.

    However, there was a time when great pains were taken not to make these computers available in the US or Europe. However computers are getting cheaper and cheaper all the time. You may be happy with $250 computer or even a $60 tablet. (One can find the UK equivalents if one can google.)

    (I got a tablet like the OfficeMax one, only a refreshed "newer" model, for $20 as part of a openning even at a newly openned MicroCenter store. It has a full office suite and does all the basic functions including Internet Browsing. It plays music, does Netflix with a great deal of caching interruptions. It uses a version of the Android Operating System {4.2 AKA Jelly Bean})

    If you're into DYI, Chateau, look into acquring information about Rasberry Pi and Arduino modules.

    Quickly -- The Raspberry Pi is a credit-card-sized single-board computer developed in the UK by the Raspberry Pi Foundation with the intention of promoting the teaching of basic computer science in schools.

    Raspberry Pi modules are available for about $35US online.

    Arduino is a single-board microcontroller, intended to make the application of interactive objects or environments more accessible. The hardware consists of an open-source hardware board designed around an 8-bit Atmel AVR microcontroller, or a 32-bit Atmel ARM. Current models feature a USB interface, 6 analog input pins, as well as 14 digital I/O pins which allows the user to attach various extension boards.

    For Arduino see http://www.arduino.cc

    Happy 'putting! Happy Mother's Day!!

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  2. Also, I should have mentioned to search "Raspberry Pi" on Youtube.

    For example here is a link to excellent DYI-er's introduction to the $35.00 computer:
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r456d0imYPE

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