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Intel Atom Processor: Disruptive Innovation in Energy-Efficient Computing

Tue, 09 Mar 2010 08:29:29 -0500

Power. That's the real problem for information and communication technologies (ICT) in the developing world. Specifically, electrical power, and the lack there of. All the coolest ICT tools, from radio to computers, the very Internet itself, require electricity, and usually vast amounts of it.

$10 per Watt in Africa

Yet in the developing world, electricity is very rare and expensive. National electrical grids don't extend past the national capitol or major trading city. Outside of population centers, electricity is generated by local, even personal generators.

Often noisy, polluting, diesel or petrol generators that need constant repair, or very expensive and delicate solar panels that break or disappear overnight. Either way, electrical infrastructure costs usually exceeded the ICT investment, often by 2-3 times.

These two opposing forces collided during the 2000's, as the international development industry, local governments, and communities themselves tried to bring ICT to rural and underserved areas, with disastrous results.

Untold millions of dollars, man-hours, and even computers were lost in these ICT for development (ICT4D) projects when energy sucking computers starved themselves and their hosts, as they gorged on rare, expensive electrons.

We would still be wasting silicon and staff today, if it were not for one, very small invention that has literally revolutionized an industry: the Intel Atom processor.

Atom CPU: Disruptive ICT4D Innovation

In 2008, partly in response to the hype around One Laptop Per Child, Intel announced the Atom series of processors. Here was a processor that had enough power - 1.6 GHz clock speed - to do most applications that users deemed necessary.

It also was very energy efficient - 2.5 Watts - and Intel sold them at very cheap prices to computer manufactures.

The power envelop in such a cheap and energy-efficient package was truly a disruptive new-market innovation that has shifted the ICT demand curve.

New-Market Innovation

Clayton Christensen, the originator of the disruptive innovation concept, says that "new-market" disruptive innovation is when non-consumers - consumers who would not have used the products already on the market - are now able to consume.

In the information and communications technologies for development (ICT4D) field, we've been using a number of different solutions to try and bridge the gap between high-powered computers and the low-resource environments we want them to work in.

We've tried everything from only using older, lower performance technology like AMD Geode-powered computers, to reducing the number of computers involved to match the amount of electricity a community can support.

But these were only stopgap measures. Every day the grid-powered world got better, faster technology and everyone else got farther and father behind. We, and the communities we served, were non-consumers of the faster, better technology.

Our clients could not afford the infrastructure for modern computing or had to travel great distance and expense to use it in major cities.

Making ICT4D Affordable

With its low price, and low power consumption, the Atom was doubly affordable in ICT4D applications. We could move from non-consumers to immediate, large-scale consumption of modern information and communication technologies.

The Atom's lower processor price meant that the end computing product, be it a netbook or desktop PC, would have a lower retail price. In fact, quality netbooks can now be had for $400 - less than half the cost of the cheapest laptops just 3 years ago. But these savings, while significant in isolation, pale in comparison to the power-cost savings.

The real disruptive innovation is the Atom processors power profile. The chipset is so energy-efficient, Inveneo could develop computing solutions that draw less than 20 Watts - the output of a battery - and free ourselves from direct generator power or large solar panel arrays. This drastically reduced the electrical costs of computer deployment, making ICT even more affordable.

A typical desktop computer can consume 200 Watts of electricity in normal operation. In Africa, where a solar power installation costs an average of $10-15 per Watt, that's $2000+ just for the power infrastructure for one computer. An Atom-powered desktop can use just 17 Watts, requiring only a $170 solar power investment - 1/10th the cost of comparable computing systems.

In fact, with Atom-based computing, the total cost of computer ownership drops below free. As we calculated above, even donated traditional computers actually cost at least $2,000 - their electrical infrastructure cost - while a new Atom-based computer and is power infrastructure is less than $1,500.

Significant Market Impact

At Inveneo, we've switched to an all-Atom product lineup and our sales have jumped. We're seeing double-digit growth in our equipment sales. Our Computing Station performance meets the needs of our clients at a fraction of the absolute and total cost of traditional computers - even donated ones.

And we are not alone. Almost everyone else in the ICT4D space is all-Atom all the time as well, and from what I hear, also experiencing a noticeable uptick in product sales and project sustainability.

The Atom chipset also spawed the netbook, which has opened up computer sales to two new buyers:

Urban elites in Africa and South Asia who can now afford a laptop for themselves and their families
Mobile phone companies like Safaricom, who are selling subsidized netbooks to increase data network sales

In addition to the developed world buyers, they've helped drive netbook sales to $11 billion in 2009 - over 20% of the entire mobile computing market from 0 in 2007.

So for all of us in ICT4D, I'd like to thank Intel for the disruptive Atom processor innovation. Its a bright spot for an otherwise cut-throat hardware industry that often ignores ICT4D needs.

How Donors Can Expand National Health Information Systems

Tue, 15 Dec 2009 09:42:49 -0500

Vital Wave Consulting has asked my opinion a very simple, yet profound question:

What should the donor community do to expand national health information systems in the developing world?

Speaking as a technologist on a mission to change the way international development employs information and communication technology (ICT) to reach its aims of economic and social development, I am honored for the opportunity to present the key activities I believe donors need to engage in immediately to better implement national HIS.

Recognize Problems Are Human, Not High-Tech

In Washington DC, I convene the Technology Salon a monthly conversation between international and technology professionals, and recently we tackled the barriers to effective deployment of national health information systems. After a hour of debate, we came to the conclusion that the key national HIS success technology is change management.

That is deploying a national health information system successfully does not necessarily require the high-end technology resources available to richer countries. The major hurtles to successful national health information systems are human, not high-tech.

Having a clear goal of improving data quality, and a solid change management approach to achieve is the critical success factor. And this can be accomplished in countries as varied in resources as Belize, India, and Sierra Leone, regardless of what technology or technical approach is used.

So Move Beyond Shiny Flashy New Thing

If we accept that its not the information or communication technology that matters most, but old school change management, then donors need to get past their infatuation with the newest shiny, flashy gadget.

Move past mHealth (Img: DataDyne)

mHealth is a great example. While mHealth more than just mobility, and mobile phones are revolutionizing ICT in Africa, do we really need yet another program that tries to be mHealth? Is it really the answer to every health problem? You would think so by all the recent donor focus on it in lieu of the larger health initiatives that can be empowered by technology.

It even propelled Karl Brown of Rockefeller Foundation to ask, "Will mHealth eat eHealth and spit out its bones?" I sure hope not, as we should be talking about health - not focus on the letter in front, be it e, m, p, q, or z.

And Get Back to Building Human Capacity for Change

Then how can donors effect greater adoption of national health information systems, if not by focusing on the technology? By supporting a structured approach to transition Ministries of Health staff into accepting, even demanding data-driven decision making - the ultimate national HIS outcome.

This means a shift towards human capacity building across health ecosystems. Using the ADKAR Model for change, Donors and their implementing partners (consultants, NGOs, and the private sector) working together with all health stakeholders in the slow but effective community organizing process to articulate the need for data-driven decision making, and create a real desire by the stakeholder to change to it.

Then, via in-person training and workshops, give stakeholders the knowledge and ability to make the change at an individual level, and finally, ensure that Ministries of Health will reinforce the change to data-driven decision making at the organizational level through its hiring and budgeting processes.

Notice there wasn't one mention of information and communication technologies in any of those steps. Why? Because if the donor community really wants to expand national health information systems in the developing world, it needs to recognize the inhibitors are human, not high-tech, stop focusing on the shiny toys, and build human capacity to accept change. Its only then, we'll see any real impact from national HIS, no matter the technology.

This post was original published on Insights on Health Information

RTFail Manifesto: Use New Retweets, We Unfollow You!

Sat, 05 Dec 2009 00:10:25 -0500

At the end of November, Twitter came out with a new retweet feature that supposedly solved a number of problems with the usage of retweets (RT) on Twitter; attribution confusion, mangled tweets, redundancy, and untrackability.

It is our stated option that the new RT is service degradation. Why? Because...

Attribution confusion: While Twitter felt we users were confused by who wrote a RT, we were not. We saw faces we trusted recommending information - the best attribution any tweet author could ask for.
Mangled and messy: Beauty is in the eye of the beholder, and where some see mess, we saw art of the Tweet Sculpt - adding our own value to the original tweet to give greater relevance to our followers.
Redundancy & Noise: For those that have either, you follow too many people. Those of us who live for social media know how to select voices to listen to - ones that only RT value. And by RT'ing the same content, but with new value to each, all RT's gain value.
Untrackable: To this we simply say "search"

But above all what galls us the most is the forced RT without commentary or annotation. To rip from our control the ability to add value to a tweet, to give it relevance to our followers - to make it ours. For this there is no excuse. Not for its implementation nor usage.

So we hereby issue the #RTFail Manifesto:

That's right - if we follow you, and you use the auto RT function 3 times (you will be warned) then you're unfollowed. Love ya, but no exceptions. The new RT's are Twitter spam, and until they are fixed, they shall be scorned in streams and in apps (looking at you Tweetie2).

For those that agree - join us in the #RTFail Manifesto in these simple ways:

Get at RTFail Twibbon
Issue your own #RTFail Manifesto warnings
And of course, RT the #RTFail Manifesto, but only with a classic RT:
-your snippet here- RT Join in the #RTFail Manifesto - Bring Back the RT! http://bit.ly/RTFail

We the Twitter RT'ers

Facebook Welcomes Wayan Vota to World's Largest Social Network

Tue, 01 Dec 2009 10:02:48 -0500

Washington, D.C. -- December 1, 2009 -- Facebook today announced that Wayan Vota, the last social networking expert without an active Facebook account, has finally acquiesced to the need to be "friended" by those known and unknown to him through the world's largest social networking site. See Wayan Vota's Facebook here

"We are honored that Wayan Vota got off his high horse and accepted the reality that Facebook is driving adoption in Africa. To continue to lead an exploration at the intersection of technology and international development, he needed to have a presence with us," said Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg.* "We've worked hard to bring more than 200 million people - 70 percent outside of the U.S. - onto Facebook to share with friends, family and co-workers. Wayan Vota represents the pinnacle of that effort."

Wayan Vota concours, "It was time that I entered the Facebook. I am excited to expand its ability to connect and share with thought leaders in both the information and communication technology (ICT) industry and the international development community. This will be a wonderful voyage of discovery for both initiatives."

Wayan Vota will continue his work with Inveneo - a social enterprise that puts the tools of ICT (like Facebook) in the hands of those who need it most in the developing world. In fact, he's already developed the ICTworks presence on Facebook to empower Inveneo's Certified ICT Partners in 21 countries across Africa and South Asia.

About Wayan Vota
Wayan Vota starting blogging from before it was a word and now publishes seven different websites and commands LinkedIn, Flickr, YouTube, and Twitter from his world headquarters in Washington DC.

About Facebook
Founded in February 2004, Facebook's mission is to give people the power to share and make the world more open and connected. Anyone can sign up for Facebook and interact with the people they know in a trusted environment. Facebook is a privately held company and is headquartered in Palo Alto, Calif.

*To the best of Wayan's knowledge, Mark Zuckerberg has no clue who Wayan Vota is - but he should!

Inspiring Women in ICT for Development

Thu, 22 Oct 2009 10:37:44 -0500

As a new father of a young daughter, the recent Educational Technology Debate on Gender Equality in ICT Education was a very personal for me. I look at the strong women I see in technology and I hope, dream, that some day my Hanalei will be a leader in whatever profession she chooses.

So was with great interest that I read about how Brooke Partridge and Karen Coppock found inspiration for their achievement in ICT. To complete the triptych of women in ICT that I admire, I also interviewed Kristen Peterson, a co-founder of Inveneo and now its CEO.

She's built the organization from just an idea in 2002 to a leading ICT4D organization I so admire, that I pretty much begged her to hire me (and she's now my boss). Here, I interview her about how she came to be in the technology industry:

Its interesting that she noted the importance of parents & mentors, especially her early mentor source: TV. Through this often maligned ICT, Kristin saw powerful women role modes to emulate and give her inspiration. I hope that times have changed enough that my Hanalei can find her own inspiration in real women she sees leading the world.

4P Computing Device Survey for infoDev

Wed, 30 Sep 2009 12:19:44 -0500

Back before there was One Laptop Per Child and the 4P Computers it spawned, we had to hunt for information on ICT projects. Finding low-cost devices or the initiatives behind them was a challenge only solved by infoDev's comprehensive Quick Guide to low-cost computing devices for the developing world.

I can remember pushing to get the Geekcorps' Desert PC listed, and the pride I had in our entry. Flash forward five years, and I'm now tasked with updating this list. Time has changed more than my involvement with ICT, its also changed the entire ICT field. Now, new 4P Computing devices are coming on line every day.

Yet so are great data gathering tools, like this Google Docs form below. Please let me know what's your favorite ICT device via this simple interface:

And be sure to spread the word far and wide via email, Twitter, and the like. You can even re-tweet the survey using this handy, short snippet:

Help update @infoDev's Quick Guide to low-cost ICT devices - please RT and add your favorite 4PC today! http://bit.ly/ict_device_survey
.

Dual Mode Display Upgrade for 4P Computing

Tue, 22 Sep 2009 12:11:40 -0500

Mary Lou Jepsen of Pixel Qi has a stunning gift for 4P Computing this Christmas. In December she will start production on the 3qi, a revolutionary new display technology just for 10-inch netbooks.

Mary Lou & her new 3qi screen

Imagine reading a computer screen in bright African daylight that has 3x better resolution that what you're looking at right now. A screen that reflects light, just like paper, with similar high contrast and ease on the eyes. And when in that reflective mode, adds over an hour to your netbook battery life.

This is the promise of Pixel Qi's new dual mode 10-inch netbook display, the 3qi.

Based on the OLPC XO-1 dual mode screen, the 3qi can go from full color to black and white reflective mode at the flip of a switch. In that reflective mode, the laptop screen's back light is turned off, which greatly reduces power consumption and in the case of 3qi, greatly increases resolution and therefore readability. Here's a comparison with other screens.

In a recent interview with Mary Lou Jepsen, she revealed that the 3qi screens are going into production in December. This means we should be seeing dual screen laptops for sale in early 2010. But she also said that 3qi screens can be retrofitted into standard 10-inch netbooks that use 40 pin LDDS connectors in about 10 minutes.

While Pixel Qi isn't set up to sell individual screens, she was intrigued by the idea of a distributor selling just the screens, which could herald a flourishing of hardware retrofitting. That HP Mini which you now shield from any glare? Imagine a 10 minute retrofit that gives you full daylight readability.

This is the Pixel Qi promise I can't wait to be fulfilled.

Innovative 4P Income Streams in Abuja, Nigeria

Tue, 11 Aug 2009 10:53:14 -0500

Today I went to the Wuse Market in Abuja, Nigeria to check on the ability of entrepreneurs to find business opportunities using 4P Computing platforms. I found an innovative mix of using computing power to enable mobile phone content, at a profit.

Young men who invested in laptops are selling music, movies, and ringtones to market visitors at a tidy markup. Now ringtones and music sales is not new. Back in 2004, I heard of techies in the wilds of Mali selling ringtones and I got a few Gig of African tunes for a few bucks at a Senegalese cyber cafe.

What I found innovative was the movie sales.

Making money from movies in Nigeria

The entrepreneurs had a selection of movies, or you could buy your own VCD or DVD and have them convert it into a video file. But why pay to convert a VCD or DVD? Wouldn't you already have a compact disk player, or if you're wanting to convert to a file, your own computer?

It seems people do have their own computer on which they want to watch movies, but this computer cannot convert them from VCD or DVD to .avi or .mp4, as its a mobile phone. Yes, people pay to convert VCD's and DVD's into files watchable on a smartphone.

Charles, the young techie I spoke with, said he makes around 4,000 Naira a day in profit with his laptop, or about $20 of ringtones, movies, and music. At that rate, he's looking at about a 4 month payback period on the laptop purchase. Maybe a month more if you take in his anti-virus expenses - software and every other day software update and laptop cleaning at a cyber cafe.

Still, a quick way to pay for a new laptop.

Meet me in Nairobi, Abuja, or Accra

Thu, 16 Jul 2009 10:20:02 -0500

I'm headed to Africa soon for three weeks of meetings and trainings in Nairobi, Abuja, and Accra for Inveneo. I'll be in each city about a week, and would love to meet up with those in the technology and development fields. Of special interest would be those who are involved with OLPC, 4P Computing, and the health and education aspects of ICT deployment.

How I roll in Africa

See, while I am a fanatic proponent of web-based discourse - I'm publishing at least six different blogs right now - I'm convinced that online discourse is an amplification of offline, in-person meetings.

In fact, I believe that online conversations are not possible without some level of face-to-face discussions between participants. Or as a friend once said "meatspace has the highest bit rate"

I'll be traveling through meatspace in accordance with this general itinerary:

Nairobi the week of July 27th
Abuja the week of August 3
Accra the week of August 10

If you're in any of those cities when I am there, or know someone I should meet, then please let me know via:

Email: wayan at wayan dot com
Twitter wayan_vota
Skype Call: wayan_vota
Yahoo IM: wayan_vota
Google Talk: wayan.vota

A Whole New Technology Salon Experience

Wed, 15 Apr 2009 09:50:20 -0500

I am proud to announce that the Technology Salon is now officially sponsored by the United Nations Foundation's Technology Partnership with the Vodafone Foundation.

In April of 2008, I started the Technology Salon as a forum where technology and development professionals could share there opinions on emerging trends in information and communication technologies and international development in an intimate and informal discussion around:

technology's impact on donor-sponsored technical assistance delivery, and
private enterprise driven economic development, facilitated by technology.

Please visit the new site

A year later, as we've grown towards a community of practice, the Technology Partnership came to see the Salon as an effective way to increase the discussion and dissemination of information and communication technology's role in expanding solutions to long-standing international development challenges.

With agreement that the Salon will maintain its key attributes and its humble host, it became part of the Technology Partnership family. The Salon also got a whole new look - I created a new online presence to reflect its new status: TechnologySalon.org. Please redirect your Salon attention to this new site.

But don't get too excited - their sponsorship is just free donuts and coffee, as its our collective input that really powers the Salon. And along those lines, the views and opinions expressed on the site and in the Salon do not necessarily reflect those of the UN Foundation or the Vodafone Foundation.

Designing a Micro Mobile Telco: April Technology Salon

Mon, 23 Mar 2009 09:39:35 -0500

Mobile phones are an amazing success story in the developing world, bringing transformative opportunities to many underserved communities. But they do not reach out to remote rural villages - where there is demand and purchasing power, albeit limited - and a scaleable micro mobile teclo solution could transform communications and development for the poorest of the poor.

Rural mobile phone entrepreneurs

So what might be the business and technology models that would allow entrepreneurs to roll out mobile phone systems to these underserved communities? And could development organizations play a role?

Which technology would be best: GSM? WiFi? WiMax? What's the business case: Handset sales? Subscriptions? Airtime only? Could voice services be augmented with data? Even broadband?

How might an entrepreneur serve 400 customers with $10 per month revenue or $48,000 per annum? And should aid organizations seed these businesses?

Please join David Ferguson on Thursday, April 2, for a lively discussion of possible micro mobile telco models and expect to hit the whiteboards with your ideas. Our gracious host is the UN Foundation and I'll have coffee and donuts for a good morning sugar rush to wake everyone up.

Designing a Micro-Mobile Telco
April Technology Salon
Thursday, April 2, 8:30-10am
UN Foundation Conference Room
1800 Mass Avenue, NW, Suite 400
Washington, D.C. 20036 (map)

Do note that seating is limited and the UN Foundation is in a secure building. So the first fifteen (15) to RSVP will be confirmed attendance and then there will be a waitlist.

Technology Salon: A Community of Practice

Tue, 03 Mar 2009 18:38:35 -0500

technology's impact on donor-sponsored technical assistance delivery, and
private enterprise driven economic development, facilitated by technology.

Now, almost a year later, the Technology Salon is developing into a real community of practice - a network of development and technology professionals who share a common passion for ICT4D, and through regular interaction and communication, are improving their knowledge and implementation expertise in empowering development with technology.

From its inception and reinforced through feedback from its participants, I've found there are three attributes keys to the Technology Salon success and growth:

Hot Topic: The Rise of 4P Computing

Conversation, not presentation
The Technology Salon is primarily a forum for discussion, so presentations are discouraged and Power Point is generally banned. Speakers have only 10-15 minutes at the beginning to present their activity, before participants are free to ask questions, share their own experiences, and drive the conversation in a direction that interests them. This both brings forth the group's knowledge and keeps participants engaged for the full meeting.

Intimacy of participants:
The Technology Salon attendance is capped at 15 people to make sure each participant has the opportunity to speak and share their experience. This cap also encourages pre-registration and subsequent attendance. Last but not least, it allows for quality pre-and post-event networking by participants.

Confidentiality of opinions:
The Technology Salon employs the Chatham House Rule - what is said in its discussions can only be attributed to the Salon itself, not to any specific participant. At the same time, the Salon is not recorded nor the discussion transmitted outside its meeting place. These precautions allow participants to speak their opinions freely, thoughts that would not be shared if participants worried about attribution or out-of-context quoting.

In 2009, I look to improve on the Technology Salon's success while maintaining its three key attributes - conversation, intimacy, privacy. Its goal is to evolve beyond its current exclusive nature into a standard of discourse between technology and development professionals. To achieve this greater scale and legitimacy, and make its impact felt beyond its direct participants, the Technology Salon will need to improve its:

Hot Topic: Computers vs. Cell Phones

Event promotion:
The Technology Salon has grown organically, mainly through word of mouth and a small announce-only email list I manage. It could benefit from a larger promotion in the technology and development space, reaching practitioners who as yet have not heard of it, and attracting higher-profile speakers and attendees. At the same time, this new interested needs to be balanced with the intimacy that differentiates the Salon.

Meeting regularity:
Owing to its informal nature and my hectic travel schedule, the Technology Salon meeting have been ad-hoc - scheduled with speakers are available or a topic of interest presents itself. The only regularity has been its timing - on a Thursday from 8:30am to 10am. For it to become a fixture in professional life, it needs to have a regular schedule, but one that can be balanced against the opportunity for guest speakers and capturing of fast-moving topics.

Publication of outcomes:
Until recently, the Technology Salon has been forcefully off-the-record. Few if any details of the Salon or its conversation points have been documented or shared publicly. For the Salon to have a larger impact, it needs to publish more of its outcomes - be they points of consideration and interest vs. formal pronouncements or conclusions. Yet this grater transparency needs to be balanced carefully with the need for confidentiality for individual participants - which if anything, seems to be the key success metric to date.

Sponsorship:
To date, the Technology Salon has enjoyed informal sponsorship by its host, the UN Foundation. For it to gain greater legitimacy as a professional forum, it needs to have a formal organizational sponsor that allows the Salon affiliation and yet autonomy in topics and conversation - so that the Salon remains driven primarily by its participants.

And in the spirit of its participant-driven organization, I encourage your ideas and suggestions for improvement, especially if they can help me with the four areas I want to focus on for 2009: publicity, regularity, publication, and sponsorship.

Better yet, are there topics of ICT4D interest you'd like to see at an upcoming Salon, where you can also provide the speaker?

mHealth in Development: March Technology Salon

Fri, 20 Feb 2009 13:59:00 -0500

Epidemics and a shortage of healthcare workers continue to present grave challenges for governments and health providers in the developing world. Yet in these same places, the explosive growth of mobile communications over the past decade offers a new hope for the promotion of quality healthcare - billions now have access to reliable technology that can also support healthcare delivery.

Mobile-empowered healthcare

How can this access to mobile technology, radically improve healthcare services - even in some of the most remote and resource-poor environments?

Please join Inveneo's Eric Blantz and Vital Wave Consulting's Dr. Karen Coppock in a discussion around mHealth - how technology can empower better and more efficient healthcare services throughout the developing world, with an emphasis on mobile and cellular technologies.

Of special focus is the recent United Nations Foundation and Vodafone Foundation Technology Partnership report, mHealth for Development, authored by Vital Wave Consulting

Opportunities for mHealth in Development
March Technology Salon in San Francisco
March 3rd, 8:30-10am
@ Inveneo
972 Mission Street 5th Floor (map)
San Francisco, CA

Please RSVP as we only have seating for 15 and after that, there will be a waitlist.

Cell Phones vs Computers: February Technology Salon

Thu, 05 Feb 2009 10:43:53 -0500

With the explosion of mobile handsets and the faltering of the "$100 laptop" idea, the international development community is focusing on the mobile phone as an empowerment tool, while questioning investments in computers. Is this wise? Is there a data continuum that includes both? Or should development dollars really shift to one platform at a loss to the other?

The primary development platform?

Please join us for a spirited debate where Troy Etulain of USAID will push us to envision a future where development objectives are achieved on mobile phones, while Wayan Vota will back computers, desktops even, as the true tool of choice to accelerate development with technology.

Katherine Townsend of State will moderate the discussion with an eye to finding realistic recommendations for the development community.

Our gracious host is the UN Foundation and I'll have coffee and donuts for a good morning sugar rush to wake everyone up.

Mobile Phones vs. Computers: a False ICT4D Choice?
February Technology Salon
Thursday, February 12th, 8:30-10am
UN Foundation Conference Room
1800 Mass Avenue, NW, Suite 400
Washington, D.C. 20036 (map)

Do note that seating is limited and the UN Foundation is in a secure building. So the first dozen (12) to RSVP will be confirmed attendance and then there will be a waitlist.

HP Mini Note: 4P Computing Perfection

Mon, 12 Jan 2009 18:03:17 -0500

Recently, the famed technology writer Steven Levy submitted his gadget list for 2009. His second request? One Laptop Per Adult Computer:

I was skeptical about the XO at first but was pleasantly surprised by its ruggedness, screen quality, antenna sensitivity, and software, which treats every app as an invitation to collaborate. Yes, it's great that OLPC wants to sell these in bulk to kids in developing nations, but I'd like to see a consumer company license its innovations to make an adult-safe version (with a real keyboard) for the price of an iPod classic.

Now doesn't that sound like he's really asking for a 4P Computer? A highly portable, power -efficient, appropriate performance laptop with a reasonable price? I would like to present Steven with his perfect 4PC now. May I introduce the HP Mini Note Netbook. This is the 4P Computing category killer we have all been waiting for. Recently, I bought one as an adult XO experience, and I'm quite impressed.

The 1035NR version has the look and feel of a real laptop, just shrunk. Its case and keyboard are stylish - well past the cheap plastic feel of the Asus and approaching a Vaio.
The 8Gig solid state drive, expandable with SD cards, can withstand heat, dust, and shocks better than spinning hard disks.
It runs Windows XP or Ubuntu 8.10 with ease. I even have it dual booting - XP for her, Ubuntu for me.
At $400 it is within the price range of business people in the developing world, and close to the XO laptop's G1G1 price.
Sadly, its 3 hour (max) battery life is nothing like the XO, and its screen is too glossy and weak for sunlight reading.

So while Steven Levy might continue waiting for the perfect adult XO, I would recommend the rest of us go with a HP Mini Note. You'll not find a better "netbook" out there. I know, looked till the wife called out "just buy one already!"