On 28/7/05, Mark Summer wrote: > It's already pretty easy to build computers from off-the-shelf > components that consume less then 20 Watts, and at prices below $400, > including keyboard, mouse and display.
Well, of course at Inveneo, Mark is very familiar with low power computing, and the List knows that the Jhai PC is showing the way to practical sub-10W devices. In India, some of us are attempting to flesh out a new synergy between computing and communication. The successful paradigm is the public call phone, a low cost communication device for the edge which was made more accessible by sharing its total cost of ownership among many users (readers on this List will know that this was perhaps the most significant enabler for extending the Indian economy out to rural and remote areas in the early '90s). I submit that there are no serious technological barriers left to extending this model to a low power computing edge device, one that can be shared between many users in a group or community, while individuals will own or possess much cheaper individual devices, that provide either an interface or an identification - or both. Very clearly, the cheapest known medium for clear communication is FM wireless, for which the spectrum between 87.5 and 108 MHz is already set internationally, and devices are made cheaply in most manufacturing economies. Other spectra, such as 2.4 GHz and 5.1 GHz, are also emerging rapidly (in the sense that they are beginning to be freely usable all around the world). Having such a medium available provides for rapid technological development and manufacture, which brings down costs. The Simputer is not yet that ideal edge device, but arguably the hurdle yet to be straddled is a middle infrastructure layer of shared computing - relevant server centric applications and pervasive wideband inexpensive or free connectivity. -- Vickram ------------ ***GKD is solely supported by EDC, a Non-Profit Organization*** To post a message, send it to: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> To subscribe or unsubscribe, send a message to: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>. In the 1st line of the message type: subscribe gkd OR type: unsubscribe gkd Archives of previous GKD messages can be found at: <http://www.edc.org/GLG/gkd/>
