HP Markets Cheap 4-User PCs To African Schools 293
Kracs writes "HP are supplying their low-cost multi-user 441 desktops to African schools. Running Mandrake Linux, and sporting four screens (1xTNT2 AGP, 3xTNT2 PCI), keyboards and mice (1 PS2 set, 3 USB sets) they provide relatively cheap computer access for up to four users (of particular interest to schools in low economic zones).
However, according to this article on New Zealand's Xtra news page they've only manufactured enough to outfit schools in South Africa. HP has commented that they're talking to several organisations and are hoping to bring the PC to market in other regions but have stated they will only be marketed to developing countries." (Remember, there are also home-grown methods to achieve similar results.)
When I was a kid (Score:5, Funny)
Re:When I was a kid (Score:4, Funny)
Re:When I was a kid (Score:3, Funny)
And we LIKED it, because you could pull the keycaps off and rearrange them for the next hunt-and-peck sucker
Re:When I was a kid (Score:4, Interesting)
When I was a lad, we had mark sense cards -- like punchcards, but you had to use a pencil to mark each character. Only in 2nd year of university did we get to use a terminal, then it was ed -- 3rd year we were allowed to use vi in full screen.
Re:When I was a kid (Score:2)
Re:When I was a kid (Score:3, Interesting)
You think you are "kidding"!
I can remember when China bought about a million Timex Sinclair computers for schools: tiny little 16K doorstops with an uppercase membrane keyboard and a TV connection for a 40-character x c. 23 line display.
And why not. My first computer where I learned BASIC. And I LIKED IT!
When I was a kid (amdahl V7 running MTS) (Score:3, Interesting)
1979, Amdahl V7. 32Megabytes of RAM, running MTS (Michigan Terminal System) ran at a bit less than 2MIPS. Maxed out at about 700 simultaneous logins, but it was slow as molases at that point. It could handle about 500 users with good response time.
Granted, it wasn't quite a PC. That monster cost a few million dollars (cheap in it's day for what it could do). Along with it's hard disks, and other peripherals, it took up about 1/3 of a floor of the General Services Buildi
finally.... (Score:3)
It always amuses me when people think that a fast computer is going to help them type better.
These should be standard issue in school labs where office apps are the main focus.
Re:finally.... (Score:4, Interesting)
I wonder what happens when those 4 people start browsing and using openoffice at the same time. Not to mention technical stuffs like matlab (which runs on java)
This would be what I call context-switching.
Re:finally.... (Score:5, Interesting)
Re:finally.... (Score:2)
Re:finally.... (Score:5, Insightful)
This thing ran an Oracle database, mail/web servers, did nfs/nis, supported two dozen X-terminals and at least 50 text terminals. We would run out of memory only very occasionally, when people started doing stupid things like run their window manager on the server itself rather than use the one built-in the X terminals.
The machine was not fast, but it ran to the department needs and people weren't less intelligent because of this. Maybe quite the opposite in fact: since you didn't want to compile your progamming assignment every couple lines, people were more considerate about writing quality code in the first place and make use of the resources we had more efficiently. This produced a generation of programmers who were concerned about writing good code.
Today, any a 2GHz+ PC with 1GB+ of ram would put the machine we were using back then to shame in terms of raw computing power and even i/o, with the proper supporting hardware (fast scsi disks [seagate.com], cyclades serial ports board [cyclades.com], etc.)
One last thing about Linux IIRC, part of the memory used by programs is actually shared if two or more users use the same application, so memory utilization is efficient in a multi-user setup.
It works really well! (Score:4, Informative)
The thing which kills a setup like this is high-bandwidth 3D, movie decodes and other heavily CPU- or buss-intensive work.
Time for a pair of dimes shift (Score:4, Interesting)
I have a P3-866MHz in my company with some 20+ users running Oracle. Some of them use VNC. It does a lot of nuber crunching, and runs any assorted software that people need which cannot run in Windows. I have never seen that computer using more than 3% CPU.
Our biggest problem in maintaining that machine is disk space. People are reluctant to trust their windoze machines after getting used to the reliability of a Linux server, so they start uploading a lot of stuff that should be kept in their own personal computers.
Re:finally.... (Score:4, Insightful)
the same thing when 10 people do that on the test machine/server I have here at work.
it just has a higher memory useage at that time.
Linux is multi-user, if you have the horsepower, you can have 10,000 people browsing and using openoffice at the same time. Linux could really care less.
users of Linux Terminal Server have been doing this for a really really long time. a simple Dual P-III 866 server with 1 gig of ram cancomfortably support 10 users on X terminals running open office, mozilla and evolution all at the same time.
Re:finally.... (Score:3, Insightful)
We really do need some mainstream distros willing to say "the hell with this, we've got users on junk hardware out there, let's scale it back a bit". Instead we've got the moving targets of KDE and GNOME, getting bigger and bigger and bigger...
What amazing new technology is this? (Score:4, Informative)
(Sorry, I just couldn't resist.)
~Dr. Weird~
The return of the Mini (Score:5, Insightful)
No, not the car... the computer. The fact that a system like this (while not exactly thin-client X-term material, nor a WYSE text box) would get produced indicates that when the going gets tough, the thin(er) client model makes sense. How soon until someone expands this to 8 terminals? (All you'd need is a PCI-expansion slot and a higher bus speed.)
With this, you can still have the decently-performing graphics of a direct VGA connection, while enjoying to cost benefits of reduced CPU-boxes. w00t.
Re:The return of the Mini (Score:5, Insightful)
* Less CPU power is required per person -- an average user has about 80% CPU idle time. Serving 4 users probably only requires about 50% more power than serving 1 user.
* Less memory is required, as most of the time users will all be running the same software, enabling shared memory usage and shared disk cache (n.b., memory is currently the most expensive item in a low-cost computer system).
* Fewer machines -> less administration time to keep them all running.
All that was needed was mainstream hardware & OS support. I hadn't noticed that USB keyboards & mice were the final thing to fit into place to enable this with readily available hardware, nor that Linux supported the necessary software configuration (or is this using a modified kernel?)
Re:The return of the Mini (Score:2, Interesting)
Monkey Island comes to mind (Score:5, Funny)
(Cannibal turns around)
Not a dupe (Score:5, Informative)
Re:Not a dupe (Score:3, Funny)
Notice that its only in Afrcia (Score:2, Interesting)
hate to sound so corny but (Score:5, Interesting)
if hp are genuine in their efforts in helping developing/poor nations by providing them with low cost computers then this is great news.
and in answer to the question on everyone here's lips, yes, it runs linux!
Re:hate to sound so corny but (Score:2)
I hope they're not doing it, but it's possible HP will actually run a higher per-component price on this box because it's "still cheaper than four PCs." and actually make a higher profit margin on this "low-cost" solution. i.e. they'll charge the cost of 3PCs and tell the buyer they're getting 4
Re:hate to sound so corny but (Score:2)
You could do this with a "white box" PC. All it needs is another three PCI video cards (don't go crazy on high end stuff, something two or three years old wold be more than adequate). Probably a USB card or a hub. Throw in some more RAM if you can afford it. Plenty of CRT monitors are thrown out, mice and keyboards are dirt cheap too (or recycled).
Re:hate to sound so corny but (Score:3, Insightful)
Another good thing is that this is helping the environment - a single 4-head machine takes less res
a good step in the right direction (Score:5, Insightful)
Re:a good step in the right direction (Score:2)
Infact, Linux is good in a school environment *because* the kids can't just install the latest windows games.
Re:a good step in the right direction (Score:2)
Why (Score:3, Insightful)
oh right, profits
Re:Why (Score:5, Informative)
Re:Why (Score:2)
It could be that the power requirements to power one of this 4-terminal setups may be quite a bit less than the requirements to power 4 seperate box PCs.
And in the long term, less parts maintainance, as there is only one motherboard etc.
Still, ultimately it looks like a good idea.
PCs in schools (Score:3, Insightful)
And I've seen South Africa's attempts at computer literacy.
Imagine a mud-strune shanty town. They bring in a mobile bus full of computers. There is hardly anything in computing in the particular group's language. Then someone steals the power cord.
These people don't need computers. They need an environment safe from crime, corruption & pollution. They need clean water. They need to stop getting aids.
Computers cost vast amounts of money. Multi-lingual efforts are negligable because programmers couldn't care a stuff about supporting multilingualism. What is an African living on a couple of dollars a day meant to do with his taxes being spent on thousands of dollars computer equipment? When he doesn't have a phone? Doesn't speak the language 100% of the software is in? Is he going to gain some magic from browsing all several dozen webpages in his language?
There're far more important things in life than computers.
Re:PCs in schools (Score:2)
The government has realized the vast economic potential of the Business Opportunity # 419, and is merely seeking to include the average worker in its vision of a new and highly profitable workforce.
It only takes a few (Score:5, Interesting)
Never mind that there are few web pages in Bantu or Swahili, Get the kids going and soon you will have many.
Never mind that only a few students' lives will really be changed by having a computer. Those few students will have a big effect on society.
The important thing is that the computers should be available outside of school hours and not just to the students. Check out the 'computer in a wall' project in India. Check out how the students in Iceland are using computers to preserve their language and culture. As long as the teachers don't get in the way, good things will happen.
Re:PCs in schools (Score:5, Informative)
Learning new skills allows people to get jobs and earn money - yes, there is demand for people with computer skills even in Africa, more than you'd imagine.
This charity [a-cet.org] - The African Children's Educational Trust - trains over 200 young adults as computer operators in Northern Ethiopia. The skills they learn allow them to get jobs and support their families, and gives many of them a much better life.
Re:PCs in schools (Score:2)
Nowadays, Industry doesn't mean the large, smoke-belching factories of yesteryear. As many people in India, Malay, and elsewhere have found, computers provide a job that, once online, can go pretty much anywhere.
I'm a freelance programmer and sysadmin. I grab my Linux laptop, and anywhere I can get a DHCP/Wifi/Modem/Cellular Internet connection, (pretty much *anywhere*) I can work. I'v
Re:PCs in schools (Score:4, Insightful)
Some friends of his back in Australia wanted to donate something to the larger project, so this bloke asked the Eritrean in charge of the hospital what he wanted. He wanted a computer + a printer. With that computer he could send letters to aid organisations, the UN, governments etc to help raise funds for the hospital. (cue the 419 jokes...) Although it wouldn't solve all his problems RIGHT NOW, it was a step in the right direction.
I believe that the computer fellows around here refer to it as 'bootstrapping'.
HP is *selling* PCs because that's what they do - sell PCs. It's up to the individual areas/schools/governments if they want to buy them or not. A region probably won't buy them if they have no food or water or electricity, but not all regions are like that. If they decide that they do need computers, here's a way for them to get them at a lower cost than previously possible.
With these, perhaps we'll see African programmers emerge from where there were none before and THEY can lead the charge for localised software (hell, it's open source - they can probably localise it themselves), localised web sites and localised help.
I believe that the computer fellows around here would also refer to this as 'bootstrapping'.
Re:PCs in schools (Score:5, Informative)
Yes, there are mud-strune shanty towns aplenty here in South Africa, never mind the rest of Africa (where things are even worse). Mobile computer centers does feature now and then, but what you don't know are the teaching methods employed. Yes, a truckload full of computers won't make a difference in the case where a kiddy who can only speak Sepedi or Setswana, because Windows doesn't come in anything even close to their language. However, since Open Source has become a Big Thing (tm) in Africa as a whole, people now have the power to localize things for themselves.
So, it's not the government shunting busloads of computers at schools, trying to convice people of their bleeding hearts, far from it. It's actually the people from the shanty towns themselves that have decided to help themselves.
Yes, computers does cost vast amounts of money. However, with Open Source, even old "throwaways" are being refurbished and put to work. Another thing, accusing an Open Source programmer for not caring about multilingualism is a severe slap in the face, so I suggest you go out there and check your facts. Some of them obviously do not care, but please don't say that too loudly in the company of the KDE developers, they might just nail you to the wall...
How do you create an environment where you don't have crime, corruption, pollution and aids? This cannot happen overnight. You cannot make people stop believing in pagan gods overnight. You HAVE to educate, and you can also only effectively educate when they want to be educated in the first place. It's easy to point fingers at Africans and say "what a bunch of barbarians", because you do not live under the same circumstances. I do live here, and have to see these things for myself every single day. The way to change things is to educate. To educate, you need education methods other than slates with markers. To teach teachers, you need to educate communication, values and "having an open mind". Therefore we need computers and things like Internet access. Companies like HP are doing that for Africa in a constructive way.
Speaking of phones, it's possible for me to take my cellular phone, and drive from Cape Town (southernmost city in Africa) to Cairo (capital of Egypt for in case you don't know) and only lose signal in a couple of places. Can you do that in the US? 'Fraid not! Only under very special circumstances can you roam with your cellular phone outside your home-state borders. Also, there are more GSM cellular phones in Africa (as a whole) in active use (granted, some are stolen, but that can only attribute to about 5% of active phones) than there are people in Australia. Most are used by the typical "couple-of-dollars-a-month" people, because it makes economical sense for them. It liberates them in terms of communication. And with communication it's only a couple of steps to education.
So, yes, there are more important things in life than computers. There are also more important things in life than putting misguided, anonymous posts like these on Slashdot. It would have been better if you actually knew what you were talking about, but sadly you don't. So why don't you send your old computer gathering dust in your attic to Africa? Be progressive for a change and help the next generation build a better future for themselves. So how about it, eh?
Re:PCs in schools (Score:2)
With translations involving native speakers likely to be far more use than those done by some big foreign corporation from thousands of miles away.
God I hate people like you (Score:3, Interesting)
Now put those books on computers and suddenly each student can access their own book (perhaps even make notations in the book) and have it up-to-date each year.
The cost of books is a very real problem. There have been plenty of reports of poor schools in developing region
Re:PCs in schools (Score:2)
Wrong - the *latest* computers cost vast amounts of money - go surf around ebay for a 5 (or more) year old computer and you'll see how cheap computing can be. Yeah, ok it won't run Windows 5006 and Quake 7, but that's not what you're after - It'll run Linux, X, Open Office and gcc just fine.
Re:PCs in schools (Score:2, Insightful)
but they _do_ need to stop getting aids. The rates of Aids infection in parts of Africa are unbelievable. It is effectively going to kill the majority of the population in large areas.
If the same thing was happening in Russia, I'd say they need to stop getting aids to. It is not bigotted, it is reality. They're dying like flies from this dreadful disease and it is very sad.
Any objective to do with computing pales in comparison with the disaster that is HIV/Aids.
We must stop throwing technology at the problem (Score:2, Insightful)
Jason Conrad
Follow the troll bread-crumbs to the dirty truth behind slashdot [slashdot.org]
Re:We must stop throwing technology at the problem (Score:5, Insightful)
Re:South Africa is an exception (Score:2, Informative)
Re:South Africa is an exception (Score:2, Interesting)
Re:South Africa is an exception (Score:2, Interesting)
Re:South Africa is an exception (Score:3, Informative)
The GDP per capita is
Nigeria [cia.gov]: $800
South Africa [cia.gov]: $10700
There are other indicators there that may give a better view of the distribution of the wealth in the countries.
Re:We must stop throwing technology at the problem (Score:3, Informative)
South Africa is a developed country for godssake. It is not some primitive collection of mud huts. Go live there for awhile before you jump to such ridiculous conclusions.
Re:We must stop throwing technology at the problem (Score:4, Insightful)
Just because there are other problems that remain to be solved doesn't mean this isn't a Good Thing(tm). What will you say when someone tries to end the corruption? "Screw that, they still haven't cured AIDS"?
Re:We must stop throwing technology at the problem (Score:4, Insightful)
Plenty of South Africans appear to disagree.
it needs to end corruption in the various governments so that education can be given a budgetary priority.
Hardly applicable only to African states. Corruption and wastage of money appear to be common problem amongst many governments. e.g. the US hardly has the best schools in the world yet is perfectly willing to give public money to highly questionable governments and go around invading military weak Asian countries.
Monkeys (Score:3, Funny)
So now when they set a million monkeys typing away to reproduce the entire works of Shakespeare, they'll only need 250,000 computers!
This is a win-win-win-win-etc situation!
Doesn't work (Score:2)
Re:Monkeys (Score:4, Funny)
HP and low price (Score:5, Insightful)
Now they invented a new way - make a 4 head single CPU computer and sell it to developing countries... instead of knives and mirrors... for the price of 4 non-brand computers.
AFAIK, South Africa is not the poorest African Country.
If you really really want to do something good, make a cheap monitor, compliant to all health standards, harmless to children. It is easy to do nowadays, since nobody wants CRT monitors anymore (except for special cases).
As for everything else - many companies would gladly pay to you for taking away their outdated equipment, which is still good for schools and is definitely more powerful than 1/4 of cheap HP.
Old monitors are bad for eyes, it's the only thing that needed. And no HP, please.
Re:HP and low price (Score:3, Informative)
Homegrown? (Score:4, Insightful)
(Remember, there are also home-grown methods to achieve similar results.)
That sounds pretty home-grown to me. I understand there is time to be saved in just buying it from HP, but this seems like a fairly obvious solution to the problem at hand.
Re:Homegrown? (Score:2)
Most people here on slashdot wouldn't dream of buying a ready built desktop computer, but the masses out there don't want to build their own. The same applies here - HP have done something obvious and made it easy for people who don't have the ability to hack software to do what they want. And here's the thing: HP did it first.
HP showed this off at Linuxworld in San Fran... (Score:4, Interesting)
Some very good people were running that booth. They hadn't decided exactly where it was going to be sold, but they knew who they wanted to buy it.
It was running Mandrake there, but certainly an older version. The way it came off, was that Mandrake had been chosen due to its popularity in Europe, and that the original solution was coming from the labs in France.
When it was explained to me, they were talking about giving an option to poor families in developing countries. Looks like they took a different direction.
This is the perfect use for the idea. Schools are so important, to give a less expensive option that isn't just our throw away Pentium systems is a wonderful idea.
Why only africa (Score:5, Interesting)
I don't know why they are targetting this at Africa. There are plenty of other countries where schools don't have enough computers. The UK for instance - many schools in the UK struggle with very low IT budgets. This would be great of them.
Perhaps they are targeting Africa so they don't tread on Microsoft's toes too much?
Re:Why only africa (Score:3, Interesting)
Actually, it's probably so they're not treading on their own toes - I expect HP makes a lot of money selling IT kit to schools in "first world" countries and they don't want to start to dramatically undercut themselves.
Re:Why only africa (Score:2)
"Developing" also means less legacy (i.e. MS Windows) apps to accomodate.
Economic Aid (Score:5, Interesting)
At the time my opinion was that Free Software was better than donating money, as it can help third world economies become sustainable, in line with teaching someone to fish rather than just giving them a fish. I couldn't back up my opinion with hard examples though. I think I will be using this story as one of my examples in the future. Does anyone else have similar examples?
441? (Score:3, Funny)
Windows solution for the same thing (Score:2, Insightful)
NOT OT - Wake Up! (Score:2)
Give this guy a break. I thought his link was fairly helpful as I was looking for this very solution the other day (thanks GoRK).
I can see a real application for this in our labs at the school. I don't think the major point of this article is that it's Linux - although that is a bonus. And it's not completely about thin clients either. After all, this is not a new idea (thin clients have been
Connectivity? (Score:2, Interesting)
savings by running 2 dual-VGA-port cards instead? (Score:2, Interesting)
Re:savings by running 2 dual-VGA-port cards instea (Score:3, Informative)
Anyway, it now seems like it'd be significantly cheaper to have put a pair of mid-range PCI cards in, rather than a single card. A single dual card might have performance advantages, but I feel like I paid through the nose for it.
Granted, this was a bit ago. It cou
This could have other benefits .. Linux Awareness (Score:4, Insightful)
With this type of installation/solution, it addresses the issue of Hardware. Funds are needed for PC's, and the less you have to spend on hardware the better. This solution *DOES NOT* run Windows - period. So this is the type of footholding we in SA like to see. Once the kids leave school - Linux will be a comfortable OS for them to use - unlike people numbed by the MS "Experience" .
Re:This could have other benefits .. (Score:2)
Re:This could have other benefits .. Linux Awarene (Score:2)
Except that the TCO becomes an issue here. The phrase "it's only free if your time is free" becomes rather relevent. Especially relevent is that Microsoft produces personal computer software. Which simply dosn't tally well with the way
Comment removed (Score:3, Insightful)
Imagine... (Score:2)
Start of import/export business? (Score:2, Interesting)
Relative is the key word here... (Score:2)
Monitors. You can get pantsed a couple of ways here.
Small CRTs are cheapish, but heavyish. Big CRTs are expensivish and heavy. LCDs are massively NOT cheap and expensive. Yes, you're saving on the silicon, but you still have to consider cost and shipping for monitors.
Depending on what you'd get, the box suddenly ends up
Some tech background on the 441 setup (Score:5, Informative)
I'm the tech lead on the HP 441 development team in South Africa. Here is some background info on what has gone into it and where HP is going with this.
Firstly, it's extremely similar to the Brazilian effort (which is totally based on Backstreet Ruby, which is a multi-headed solution that has been around for more than 2 years now), and has been designed with the same basic ideas in mind. Both South Africa and Brazil can be termed "developing countries", and both countries are most definitely not the poorest in their respective regions. Linux , and Open Source in general, has had quite some time to bed down and influence the local market, so it would make sense that things like these would develop and happen at around the same time.
Why South Africa? Simple answer: HP has one of only two of their iCommunity centers here (url for the SA iCommunity site is http://www.hpicommunity.org.za/) [hpicommunity.org.za], the other one being in India. At the iCommunity they have intensive training programmes for the local residents ranging from job creation, culture preservation right through to computer refurbishment and even computer programming. So, the 441 system has been a logical "extention" to the ideas that they were working on at the time. Needless to say, the HP 441 system are being tested in India as well, although India has it's own challenges for such a project (over 200 official languages, go figure...).
One major item that puts the HP 441 system apart from similar efforts is work that has been done in the USB device department. As you know, the system consists of 1X AGP (using PS/2 k/b and mouse) and 3X PCI (each with it's own USB k/b and mouse). With the 441 system we have added the capability for each user having their individual sound card as well, so that they can listen to their own audio. Each user also have access to their own USB Disk-On-Key devices, ensuring privacy of personal files and so forth. Apart from this it is pretty much the same thing as done by the Uni in Brazil.
A last comment, this time on HP's commitment to Linux and Open Source in general: I'm not an HP employee, so this is not a "shameless plug". I'm employed by another company who has been contracted to help develop the HP 441 system. So far, it has been an absolute blast to work on this project, and under no circumstances can I say that HP was not committed. This product is actually on a massive "tangent" to what they normally do, so they are also in uncharted waters here. However, the commitment that HP employees have shown to us, both from the local HP offices in South Africa as well as from head office in Palo Alto, is nothing short of "absolutely bloody amazing". Let's hope that other large companies like Big Blue and others take notice of how HP pushes Open Source, sometimes at their own expense with no return at all, but doing so to invest in the developing markets. Now that's a "Way To Go" if there ever was one. One may critisize HP on a lot of things, but one thing that you cannot accuse them of is a lack of balls! :-)
Personal thanks to HP for giving me and my team the opportunity to work on this project. If you are interested in more technical info and product propaganda, here is the product page again: http://h40058.www4.hp.com/products/desktops/441/pr od_info.html [hp.com]
Re:Some tech background on the 441 setup (Score:2)
> their individual sound card as well, so that they can listen to their
> own audio.
Can you discuss some of the details on how that part works? I have been thinking along these same lines and audio is where I keep getting stuck. Hanging USB audio devices on the bus is easy enough, even PCI sound cards are easy. How do you keep each head tied to one sound card though? Using ESD it is just an environment variable to set during
Re:Some tech background on the 441 setup (Score:2)
But I would hope schools have a different priority
Re:Some tech background on the 441 setup (Score:2, Interesting)
Re:Some tech background on the 441 setup (Score:5, Informative)
Apart from this there are a number of things that I can mention. The sound card issue is not too difficult. Once you pop a USB sound card into a USB hub or USB port, you'll see the device files pop up in
We did try out ESD, but that was a miserable failure. Because we are, at this stage, bound to using OSS (ALSA doesn't really work well with cheap USB sound devices yet) due to supply issues, we have to use aRtsd to multiplex sound streams to OSS. A nice side-effect is that aRts has a soundwrapper called "artsdsp", which takes care of problem children like Mozilla (with Flash Plugin), Real Player and Xine. Once your environment is bound to a specific set of devices, the artsdsp wrapper takes all that into account and makes things work for you. It's not foolproof though, we had to do some interesting footwork to integrate the whole thing nicely into a stable product.
So, just to clear up the proprietry bit, there is only one specific "daemon" that is proprietry. This is the widget that is used to beat the USB bus into submission in order to be used in ways that it wasn't designed to work . All the rest, even code that we have developed to help with system administration, is either pure Mandrake Linux or licensed under the GPL-2. Currently such code is only available on the HP 441 CD sets, and I have no idea wether HP will make it available for download yet.
Re:Some tech background on the 441 setup (Score:2)
A pity things like the Applica U2 Multimedia are Windows only. I've always though that these kind of things make
Re:Some tech background on the 441 setup (Score:2)
I'm running Ruby for my home system, and it is really nice.
It wasn't quite clear to me if you're also running Ruby, or if you have hacked up your own solution? Also, are you using a patched X server, or the straightforward Mandrake X server?
It's really nice to see that these types of solutions get some corporate backing
Re:Some tech background on the 441 setup (Score:2, Informative)
Not terribly useful (Score:3, Insightful)
Companies donate (usually old) machines to schools. The schools then get caught in the software upgrade cycle and end up spending more than they would if they didn't have the computers at all.
In a lot of countries a computer isn't what the schools really need anyway. Textbooks would be a lot more useful in most cases.
ctrl-alt-del (Score:2)
ctrl-alt-del.
Re:ctrl-alt-del (Score:2)
ctrl-alt-del.
I imagine nothing much, as ctrl-alt-del can be easily disabled from inittab in linux.
Why South Africa?? (Score:2, Insightful)
A geek that grew up in rural Africa (Score:2, Troll)
I have an observation: most of Africa is based on subsistance agriculture. Most Africans d
Same as old times, but exactly opposite (Score:5, Interesting)
The basic computer tasks of "web browsing, word processing, e-mail, and instant messaging" do not require 3 GHz machines. I mean, they haven't requires the latest-and-greatest hardware for a long time, but the hardware is growing MUCH MUCH faster than the baseline requirements for these tasks are.
So, it makes sense for a single PC to serve multiple users simultaneously.
People have pointed out that old UNIX machines did just this, but the ironic thing is that these uses are for the exact opposite reasons. Used to be that CPU time was so costly that it was necessary. Now, CPU time is so cheap that one can't help but buy more than they need, and splitting it up across users is ideal.
Question (Score:2)
need for the office too (Score:3, Interesting)
Would dramatically reduce TCO for deploying a new technology on the desktop..
Comment removed (Score:3, Insightful)
I can hear the arguments now from the classroom.. (Score:3, Funny)
** You always get the AGP video card, I want the AGP video card..
* No I called it! I get the AGP video card! Besides they're the same card it's just shaped different.
** Nuh uh! if they're the same then why does it matter? Huh?
* Cause I like the shape better, besides you get the USB keyboard and mouse!
*bell rings*
** I call it next time :P
Re:HP (Score:5, Insightful)
The HP project is targetting South Africa specifically. South Africa is a developing country, not a third world hole in the ground. Yes, the majority of the country suffers from poverty, and AIDS is a serious problem, but as far as I know even the poorest areas have food and water (unless an unusual disaster occurs), and the people there know perfectly well how to farm. This isn't Sudan, and it isn't Zimbabwe.
What South Africa needs is better education and better resources in the poor areas - because this more than anything else is what is going to improve them. If we insist on basic aid only and reject offers of computers and telecommunications equipment, we will end up with a nation of ignorant people living in the stone age, and ripe for exploitation by the rest of the world, which has moved on.
I think it's debatable if the nation can ever reach anything that could be called prosperity if it doesn't keep up with technological advances. Not all new technology is frivolous luxury. I think that internet access is a valuable tool which can greatly improve people's lives.
Earlier posters have ridiculed the idea that access to the internet can be useful to people in rural areas, since they don't speak English. However, most people in South Africa have the opportunity to learn basic English, and nothing improves your command of a language like reading lots of it every day.
I have a concrete, practical example of how the internet can help a poor person improve his life: programming skills. A person with no resources other than the internet can learn how to program in a number of languages - and this skill is potentially worth money. It may not be suited to everyone, but the opportunity is there.
Re:HP (Score:3, Insightful)
That's because they don't know what they talking about. Almost every person I've met, even in the rural areas, where one of my previous jobs took me all the time, could speak, or understand at least a little bit of English or Afrikaans. This is because English and Afrikaans have always been (and still is to a large extent, although that's changing) the dominant lang
Re:This is a cancer! (Score:3, Funny)
Perhaps a federal "network tax" on these machines if they appear in the U.S. -- to compensate Microsoft for their loss?