6 ms·

I was in a discussion the other day how every other attempt at bringing computing to underdeveloped parts of the world has more or less failed (OLPC for example

by bane 5y ago

I was in a discussion the other day how every other attempt at bringing computing to underdeveloped parts of the world has more or less failed (OLPC for example), yet cheap Android phones have managed to become ubiquitous in places without stable electricity, running water, and stable or repressive governments.

azinman2 5y ago
Scale is the easiest way to make something cheap, and having a device targeted at every human rather than just school kids is going to be the best way to achieve scale. But as far as education goes, phones aren’t as good as a laptop as far as form factor. But better than nothing I suppose!
- b9a2cab5 5y ago
  More likely is that cell phones all have mobile data, whereas laptops have not historically had that except on high end business models. Devices are pretty useless to the average person without the internet, so in places with poor connectivity laptops end up being useless.
  - cbhl 5y ago
    OLPC also suffered from durability issues (repairs required sending the laptop back to the US, IIRC?) and cost issues (they never did hit the $100/unit price point) Even Raspberry Pi leverages the scale of Broadcom chips, which also get used in Android phones
    - na85 5y ago
      OLPC was a really cool idea, but it turned out to be yet another in a long line of "good-idea fairy visits a wealthy first-worlder with yet another way to fix the third world", like What Three Words, etc.
      - azinman2 5y ago
        That’s a pretty revisionist history that ignores a lot of how it was done. It required local partnerships, used a lot of local educational material, and had a huge amount of involvement on the ground during deployments. It also ignores that the very cell phone penetration we see earlier also comes from wealthy countries in creation — the main OS is still supplied by Google.
  - type0 5y ago
    That's exactly how it goes, unfortunately for more and more people Fecabook is "The Internet" edit: Oh , spelled it incorrectly, but a better way to spell it would be Fecalbook for the amounts of shit posted there.
    - deleted 5y ago
      [deleted]
- 41209 5y ago
  You can get a usb-c hub for 10$ with hdmi and usb ports. That's essentially a desktop computer from the early 2010s in even the weakest Android phones. More than enough to develop web apps on, I think a kid in Kenya was able to develop an entire website on a feature phone. Samsung is trying to push Dex , so we'll see. It is worth noting many cheaper phones don't support HDMI out, but you could still figure out a way to project your phone to a monitor and have a desktop .
  - pjmlp 5y ago
    Yes there is an interview with that feature phone guy on Hanselminutes podcast.
Aerroon 5y ago
I think that's how it goes with any distribution problem. If you make it cheap enough then it becomes ubiquitous and even spreads into impoverished areas. I believe this is the only way to eliminate world hunger for example.

by bane 5y ago

azinman2 5y ago

Scale is the easiest way to make something cheap, and having a device targeted at every human rather than just school kids is going to be the best way to achieve scale. But as far as education goes, phones aren’t as good as a laptop as far as form factor. But better than nothing I suppose!

b9a2cab5 5y ago
More likely is that cell phones all have mobile data, whereas laptops have not historically had that except on high end business models. Devices are pretty useless to the average person without the internet, so in places with poor connectivity laptops end up being useless.
- cbhl 5y ago
  OLPC also suffered from durability issues (repairs required sending the laptop back to the US, IIRC?) and cost issues (they never did hit the $100/unit price point) Even Raspberry Pi leverages the scale of Broadcom chips, which also get used in Android phones
  - na85 5y ago
    OLPC was a really cool idea, but it turned out to be yet another in a long line of "good-idea fairy visits a wealthy first-worlder with yet another way to fix the third world", like What Three Words, etc.
    - azinman2 5y ago
      That’s a pretty revisionist history that ignores a lot of how it was done. It required local partnerships, used a lot of local educational material, and had a huge amount of involvement on the ground during deployments. It also ignores that the very cell phone penetration we see earlier also comes from wealthy countries in creation — the main OS is still supplied by Google.
- type0 5y ago
  That's exactly how it goes, unfortunately for more and more people Fecabook is "The Internet" edit: Oh , spelled it incorrectly, but a better way to spell it would be Fecalbook for the amounts of shit posted there.
  - deleted 5y ago
    [deleted]
41209 5y ago
You can get a usb-c hub for 10$ with hdmi and usb ports. That's essentially a desktop computer from the early 2010s in even the weakest Android phones. More than enough to develop web apps on, I think a kid in Kenya was able to develop an entire website on a feature phone. Samsung is trying to push Dex , so we'll see. It is worth noting many cheaper phones don't support HDMI out, but you could still figure out a way to project your phone to a monitor and have a desktop .
- pjmlp 5y ago
  Yes there is an interview with that feature phone guy on Hanselminutes podcast.

Aerroon 5y ago

I think that's how it goes with any distribution problem. If you make it cheap enough then it becomes ubiquitous and even spreads into impoverished areas. I believe this is the only way to eliminate world hunger for example.