John Hibbs wrote: > At 10:02 AM -0700 5/29/05, Dr. Steve Eskow wrote: > >> If the Simputer is a superior product, and mass producing it will >> dramatically lower its price, the Simputer firm might emulate >> Negroponte and >> insist on mass orders. > > > "Insist"? How? > > How much good would it do to set a date ceartain - as Earth Day has - > and make a 24 hour, round the clock, round the world - effort to focus > on this call? An event designed to engage grant writers, pundits, > distance educators, distance trainers, radio stations, humanitarian > relief agencies, the UN, appropriate government officials at high levels. > > Is there a better way that picking a date certain - say six months > from now? - and then putting our collective shoulders together to make > sure that a zillion people hear of the Simputer - and cause the > ordering in the millions?
Oddly enough, I just got done with an email on this to a client. The problem is that classic NGO and even UN structures do not leverage the power of swarms. Everyone is going top down instead of bottom-up. Funding goes to what the funding agencies are told by donors. Hungry people worry about the next meal and we starve them for the cure to cancer and the AIDs vaccine. I'm not criticizing, I'm stating realities. Can we do better? Probably, if we atomize our approach to communities and allow them more say. Ironically, the Simputer and machines like it have the potential to give them that ability. So there's a vicious cycle that can only be broken if people get out of the theoretical office discussions and get into the field. Millions? I don't know that there is a need for millions... I *believe* there is, but being as objective as possible, I cannot say that there is a need. The key is demonstrating to people that something can increase the quality of their life. That's what sells SUVs, and 'faster' computers, and even alcohol (if you count sex as a quality of life issue). And then the irony of things bad for you selling so well kicks in as well. Why? Because they taste good, and we *think* that it's an increase in the quality of life. Competition might help just as much at this point. And funded by a Non-Profit, that is guaranteed to drop prices. But there's also the issue of allowing the people who did the work to recoup their costs... and the best way to do that is to work with them. Many people view competition as adversarial - indeed, the obtaining of funds is adversarial in nature, so there's no surprise that we have adversarial attitudes involved. But working together, there can still be competition - healthy competition. And with an open platform such as the Simputer, an improvement in Africa for the Simputer translates into an improvement around the world at lower costs. -- Taran Rampersad Presently in: Panama City, Panama [EMAIL PROTECTED] http://www.knowprose.com http://www.easylum.net http://www.digitaldivide.net/profile/Taran "Criticize by creating." — Michelangelo _______________________________________________ DIGITALDIVIDE mailing list [email protected] http://mailman.edc.org/mailman/listinfo/digitaldivide To unsubscribe, send a message to [EMAIL PROTECTED] with the word UNSUBSCRIBE in the body of the message.
