On 10/4/05, Mikhail Doroshevich <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > A Hundred-Dollar Laptop for Hungry Minds > > At Technology Review's Emerging Technology Conference at MIT September > 28, 2005, Nicholas Negroponte, founder of MIT's Media Lab, showed off > the design of a laptop he hopes can be sold for just $100.
Dear Mikhail and all, I hope this finds you and your families well. It is great this List is back up. I have good news! We're all on this bus together. It will take many, many people to solve the problems we are addressing . And the vast, vast majority of workers on these problems are people related to people in poverty and people in poverty themselves. We are humbled to be part of the effort. In all humility, I do not believe Nick's $100 price. We at Jhai have made progress lately including a deal with the Indian government to make a low-power, rugged, low cost computer - with no hidden costs - at under $200 based in large part on our Jhai PC. Our Jhai PC v.1.6 has been field tested on the Navajo reservation since June this year and in Laos in 2003 for a short period. Oddly the MIT machine seems to look a lot like ours, but this must be a coincidence, I guess. I wish them well. We have released, as you know, our hardware assembly tools, our BOM, and other documents as well as our software source code at <https://sourceforge.net/projects/jhaipc/> The new machine we are developing with the Indian government is faster, better and has no moving parts. Ours is designed with major input and now a redesign by people who live in or grew up in poorer communities. The Jhai PC and communication system is part of a larger system that includes very well thought out and tested socio-economic, networking, political and communications solution matrixes based on and all related to the clearly expressed needs of real poor people living in tough rural conditions. Our project is bottom-up. It comes from people, including relatives of mine, who are smart, have great skills, know their needs and their conditions in the most minute detail, and who want to make more money and basically keep their traditions in their villages. I thought I might not go to Tunis, since I travel so much and it is so hard on my family. Now, I think I will go. If I go, I will make further announcements there. Now, I am in India and will stay here for another two weeks. We have many partners here and elsewhere. We have been asked to help in 65 countries altogether. We just haven't chosen to talk about ourselves too much before we believe that things are in place. There is a huge distance between an idea and a tested system - we know - we have been at this now for six years. Our Jhai PCs have run in the field with NO crashes and have run in the lab with no crashes for 8 months. They are full-function machines built for village people with inconsistent, little, or no electricity - about 2,000,000,000 people in total. We developed our machines with the help of Lao villagers, Navajo villagers, and engineers from around the world on mainly a volunteer basis. We are ready, now. Here's more detail: Jhai Cooperating with the Indian government in producing a computer for third world at under $200 The Center for Development of Advanced Computing (C-DAC), Ministry of IT, Government of India, and Jhai Foundation are planning and cooperating on the building of a sub-$200 full-function PC for third world applications, ***with no hidden costs***. Dr. Ravindra Kumar, Addl Director and Head, Hardware Design Centre, C-DAC states further, "We may go for ASIC development to make this happen in large quantities. Govt. of India's C-DAC is ideally equipped for this, with its national presence (14 institutions, 2000+ staff) and design, deployment and Transfer-of-Technology expertise, besides creating the ecosystem for rural computing needs." I am traveling all over India in next four weeks meeting with leaders of the Datamation Foundation Trust <http://www.datamation.org/>, the MS Swaminathan Foundation <http://www.msswaminathanfoundation.org>, n-Logue <http://www.n-logue.com> and others to be announced to create test beds and am visiting with many others in the government, the NGO sector, and industry. NAVAJO TEST OF JHAI PC V.1.6 AND COMMUNICATION SYSTEM GOING WELL Chris Larsen reports from the field indicate that there have been no hardware or software crashes of our machines. However, a lightning storm knocked out one of his antennas for a day. We have also had issues with the Vonage aspect. We are using Vonage because the Window Rock School District has a proprietary network for VoIP phones that our system is relating to. Understandably the school district does not want the expectation or the expense of local VoIP phone users. Vonage cards are not part of our long range plan. We have also begun our anthropological study. Next step: I go to work with users on economic benefits and Chris and I work with the chapter house and the tribal government to see how this system is working and can be taken to a new level. An anthropological study is in place with the cooperation of Intel Corporation. This test was made possible by funding from Cisco Systems and Foundation and others. JHAI CONSULTING LAUNCHING Jhai Consulting, an allied business of Jhai Foundation, is in formation and is seeking capital for a service business related to ICT and development in the third world. Its foci are interlocked: * Training of 1.3 million local experts in participatory community development, business planning and operations, and simple project assessment using nearby community assets and experts through a trainer-training program. * Training of 1300 implementing organizations and six governments' relevant officials to quickly assess how to customize solutions given the local situation in terms of needed use, networking solutions, business sustainability, communications environment, power options, and electrical grid status through trainer-training programs, video-conferencing, written and online materials, and localized values-based instruction. * A relationship website that allows for peer-to-peer mutual support and best practices sharing with near-instant translation capabilities that can make a profit within three years and serve end users, investors, and hardware and software vendors. * A MIS/Wiki website, starting in India, that will map the relevant conditions and information for rural installments of information and technology systems and networks. * Assess opportunities and put the right people together to meet poorer villagers' needs with the least risk for all stakeholders. Contracts by Jhai Foundation are in place with partners in India and Brazil and in development in China, South Africa, Laos, Vietnam, Thailand, Australia, and Ghana. Further requests are in line from people in a total of 65 countries. We are looking for angels and investors. We have a business plan based primarily on first steps in India we can share. It is a work-in-process. We are developing the trainer base for India NOW with partners. I think these five services are the key aspects -- beyond the technology -- that are necessary. They are still little understood by developed world partners. They are well known to villagers and locally based NGO's and governments as challenges ahead. Villagers know and grounded organizations know: - Peers listen to peers best. - Cooperation happens through respectful relationships - well beyond and without denial of the West's colonial past. - Good business practices and basic concepts are known to the most remote villagers. - Trade is as old as towns. - Local people can teach local people best business practices and can help them do what they need to do to make local implementations practical and money-making. - The key is high expectations, respect, and bringing your whole selves to conversations. - We all can do this practice with training and as long as we put villagers' needs first. Jhai has almost eight years of direct experience in the reconciliation development methodology, and nearly five years of direct service creating financially sustainable business-related projects in very harsh conditions. We have spun off two nonprofits, four businesses, and a huge co-operative over this time -- all making money. Doing this 'soft' work is our core competency. I personally have over 35 years experience teaching organizing and business techniques in poorer communities and with disenfranchised consitutencies ... and even to graduate business students. Our expertise in this field comes mostly, however, from the years of experience of our collaborators, partners, staff, and literally hundreds of volunteers. This work will be done almost exclusively by people in developing countries with whom we share what we have in terms of selves, skills, experience, and tools. Thousands of people have gotten to this place with us and I am very grateful for all the lessons they teach me. For further information, please contact Jesse Thorn at <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> or Earl Mardle at <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> yours, in Peace, Lee Thorn Chair, Jhai Foundation CEO, Jhai Consulting 350 Townsend St., Ste. 309 San Francisco, CA 94112 USA 1 415 344 0360 ------------ ***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/>
