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As an engineer/founder from India who dreams of access to the Internet for everyone on this planet, these are the efforts that make me smile. I am in the proce

As an engineer/founder from India who dreams of access to the Internet for everyone on this planet, these are the efforts that make me smile. I am in the process of sorting out my financial situation - tough founder luck. But I am happy to order a few of these (and monitors) and rent a small garage to give local kids a free computer lab to learn. (Kolkata, India)

ipi 6y ago
Is it really an affordable situation with the current pricing of the RPI to setup a computer cafe for the kids who don't have access to the computers and internet ?
- Flex247A 6y ago
  Compared to old computers, it is.
- brainless 6y ago
  Access to Internet, thankfully and recently, has become super affordable by my own standards to give away. I have a 100Mbps fiber from Airtel (I have US/Europe calls all the time) at around USD 15 (INR 900) / month. I could easily get another for the cafe. Rent for a small garage would be about USD 35 / month. Electricity would not cross USD 50 / month.
minerjoe 6y ago
E-waste is a massive problem nowadays. Why not assemble the lab out of "old" computers? They might take a bit more electricity to run, but, at least in the US, you can get truckloads of computers that were destined for the scrapyard, for free. One local school here threw away 50+ small dell quad-core i5's in their quest to make sure they spend their money wisely. I've assembled a small lab, with many computers, laser printers, scanners, tablets, projectors, big-screens, etc. Without spending a single dollar on hardware. This has two effects, it reuses a resource that was destined for destruction, and it doesn't add fuel ($$$) to the ecological dumpster fire that is modern capitalism.
- raverbashing 6y ago
  I don't know why you're downvoted. This is exactly how it's done in many places. A 10yr old computer is perfectly fine for this, maybe even older. Yes it might not play all youtube videos, but it works.
  - 101008 6y ago
    Because probably that's not the situation in India.
    - raverbashing 6y ago
      What do you mean by "not the situation"? That they can't afford old computers? That it's not practical? That they don't need and can buy newer ones?
      - dbancajas 6y ago
        The schools in india can barely afford computer. and so are not throwing them away 1-2 years later.
        paleogizmo 6y ago
        The better question is what the used enterprise computer market is in India. Given that engineering salaries are no longer an order of magnitude less than the USA, I would assume that there would be a large secondary market of sub $200 laptops and SFF desktops. Is that not the case? Do businesses keep them till the wheels fall off? Do they get exported overseas? Can schools not compete on price with middle class consumers for used computers?
      - untog 6y ago
        I think they are implying that situations where 50+ small dell quad-core i5s are being discarded is not common in India.
        6y ago
lifeisstillgood 6y ago
Good luck - that sounds a brilliant move.
Kelteseth 6y ago
My mother runs (from germany) a local shelter for street kids in Kolkata. Let me know if you want to share some of your knowledge with these kids :)
- brainless 6y ago
  Wow this is the HN effect, right? I would love to get some insights. I have been wanting to get into some long-term model of social giving. I have been really lazy and only do regular donations to Watsi (YC funded) for about 6 years now. I constantly feel I need to invest more of my personal energy into this but I would like some guidance.
  - benjaminRRR 6y ago
    Is there somewhere we can discuss? I'm helping out with a curriculum to help slum kids to (web) program in Thailand in English, but in a way that they can learn English as well. I'd welcome more help (project is going slow as I'm low on spare time), and this could also help the kids in Kolkata as well.
    - brainless 6y ago
      Yes let's talk! I just saw your message here and on Twitter. Thanks.
    - Max_Mustermann 6y ago
      "I'm helping out with a curriculum to help slum kids to (web) program in Thailand in English, but in a way that they can learn English as well" Is there somewhere one could read more about this? Sounds nifty.
      - benjaminRRR 6y ago
        Hi Max_Mustermann, it's all in a mix of google docs and jsfiddle snippets. Once it's in a distributable format I will be sure to show HN. If you're keen to help flick me a message on twitter (even to just help structure things :) )

ipi 6y ago

Is it really an affordable situation with the current pricing of the RPI to setup a computer cafe for the kids who don't have access to the computers and internet ?

Flex247A 6y ago
Compared to old computers, it is.
brainless 6y ago
Access to Internet, thankfully and recently, has become super affordable by my own standards to give away. I have a 100Mbps fiber from Airtel (I have US/Europe calls all the time) at around USD 15 (INR 900) / month. I could easily get another for the cafe. Rent for a small garage would be about USD 35 / month. Electricity would not cross USD 50 / month.

minerjoe 6y ago

E-waste is a massive problem nowadays. Why not assemble the lab out of "old" computers? They might take a bit more electricity to run, but, at least in the US, you can get truckloads of computers that were destined for the scrapyard, for free. One local school here threw away 50+ small dell quad-core i5's in their quest to make sure they spend their money wisely. I've assembled a small lab, with many computers, laser printers, scanners, tablets, projectors, big-screens, etc. Without spending a single dollar on hardware. This has two effects, it reuses a resource that was destined for destruction, and it doesn't add fuel ($$$) to the ecological dumpster fire that is modern capitalism.

raverbashing 6y ago
I don't know why you're downvoted. This is exactly how it's done in many places. A 10yr old computer is perfectly fine for this, maybe even older. Yes it might not play all youtube videos, but it works.
- 101008 6y ago
  Because probably that's not the situation in India.
  - raverbashing 6y ago
    What do you mean by "not the situation"? That they can't afford old computers? That it's not practical? That they don't need and can buy newer ones?
    - dbancajas 6y ago
      The schools in india can barely afford computer. and so are not throwing them away 1-2 years later.
      - paleogizmo 6y ago
        The better question is what the used enterprise computer market is in India. Given that engineering salaries are no longer an order of magnitude less than the USA, I would assume that there would be a large secondary market of sub $200 laptops and SFF desktops. Is that not the case? Do businesses keep them till the wheels fall off? Do they get exported overseas? Can schools not compete on price with middle class consumers for used computers?
    - untog 6y ago
      I think they are implying that situations where 50+ small dell quad-core i5s are being discarded is not common in India.
      - 6y ago

lifeisstillgood 6y ago

Good luck - that sounds a brilliant move.

Kelteseth 6y ago

My mother runs (from germany) a local shelter for street kids in Kolkata. Let me know if you want to share some of your knowledge with these kids :)

brainless 6y ago
Wow this is the HN effect, right? I would love to get some insights. I have been wanting to get into some long-term model of social giving. I have been really lazy and only do regular donations to Watsi (YC funded) for about 6 years now. I constantly feel I need to invest more of my personal energy into this but I would like some guidance.
- benjaminRRR 6y ago
  Is there somewhere we can discuss? I'm helping out with a curriculum to help slum kids to (web) program in Thailand in English, but in a way that they can learn English as well. I'd welcome more help (project is going slow as I'm low on spare time), and this could also help the kids in Kolkata as well.
  - brainless 6y ago
    Yes let's talk! I just saw your message here and on Twitter. Thanks.
  - Max_Mustermann 6y ago
    "I'm helping out with a curriculum to help slum kids to (web) program in Thailand in English, but in a way that they can learn English as well" Is there somewhere one could read more about this? Sounds nifty.
    - benjaminRRR 6y ago
      Hi Max_Mustermann, it's all in a mix of google docs and jsfiddle snippets. Once it's in a distributable format I will be sure to show HN. If you're keen to help flick me a message on twitter (even to just help structure things :) )