Hi Phil,

I am a bit new to this. But when I worked for a London
charity, we had projects in India, Pakistan and
Afghanistan. One of our newest projects was teaming
with an organisation called Hole in the Wall which
placed computers in public places and taught kids how
to use them. Another was a project called One Laptop
Per Child, which I know has developed a very cheap
commputer that a number of rural and slum schools were
working with. I remember that OLPC was developed in
the US, but I don't have any of the documentation here
in NJ. Perhaps it's worth looking into?

Regards
Ujwala Samant


--- Phil Shapiro <pshapiro at his.com> wrote:


> hi nifl-tech community,

> 

>      i've been thinking a lot recently about ways of

> bringing affordable mobile

> technology into people's homes -- to expand learning

> opportunities at home.

> here's a proposal i sent google for their project 10

> to the 100 grant initiative.

> 

>        public voting for that initiative begins on

> january 27, 2009. let's

> inaugurate some good ideas then. 

>  

>     http://www.project10tothe100.com/

> 

>            phil shapiro

> 

> 

> Low-income families could benefit from being able to

> buy laptops without an LCD

> screens. A laptop without an LCD can be a very

> useful portable solution when

> connected to CRT or desktop LCD monitors. Laptops

> without screens would also be

> a green solution, giving value to donated CRT

> monitors that would otherwise be

> heading for landfills.  Portability means that this

> computer can be more easily

> maintained by volunteers, who don't always have the

> time to travel to people's

> homes. To spur the development of laptops without

> screens, a nonprofit

> organization named Designed by Consumers could

> collect pre-purchase payments for

> designated laptops, such as the Acer Aspire One.

> When 5,000 or 10,000 of such

> pre-payments are collected, Acer would have a real

> incentive to consider selling

> a version of the Acer Aspire One without a screen

> for about $160. This laptop

> would also have no batteries or speakers, further

> reducing weight and cost. A

> one-pound, virus free “laptop” could allow a

> low-income person to get tech

> support or tech training at a public library,

> church, or community technology

> center and could expand the number of computers in

> use at such shared community

> spaces.  Students could more easily carry such light

> laptops in their heavy

> bookbags.

> 

> The nonprofit organization named Designed by

> Consumers would pool funds from

> low-income people – and others who support them, to

> give low-income persons a

> stronger voice in technology product design

> decisions. The pooling of the funds

> would reward manufacturers who give greater thought

> to the needs of low-end

> consumers. Designed by Consumers would also accept

> anonymous donations from

> persons wanting to strengthen the public voice in

> design decisions. In some

> cases, Designed by Consumers would negotiate with

> manufacturers to remove (or

> include) features that would best benefit low-income

> consumers. 

> 

> 

> 

> 

> -- 

> Phil Shapiro  pshapiro at his.com

> http://www.his.com/pshapiro/briefbio.html

> http://philsrssfeed.blogspot.com

> http://www.his.com/pshapiro/stories.menu.html

> 

> "Wisdom starts with wonder." - Socrates

> "Learning happens through gentleness."

> 

> 

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