Handheld PC bridges digital divide

[David Goldstein <goldstein_david@yahoo.com.au>]

Handheld PC bridges digital divide (The Guardian)

Indian scientists invent cheap device enabling poor and illiterate to
surf internet

>From outside, the Simputer is nothing special: a grey box the size of
an electronic organiser, with a black and white screen and four
chunky buttons. 

But the handheld device might solve the most pressing problem of the
internet age: how to get developing countries online. The Simputer,
short for simple computer, promises to have as profound an impact on
communications in the developing world as the clockwork radio of the
British inventor Trevor Bayliss. 

The device took a group of Indian scientists almost three years to
develop. It will give online access for around £140, a fraction of
the cost of a PC, when it becomes commercially available in India
early next year. 

Unlike the PC, it does not need a mains electricity supply but runs
on three AAA batteries. 

The Simputer's most revolutionary feature, however, is that it
eliminates the biggest single barrier to computer use in the third
world: illiteracy. 

Almost 50% of India's population is unable to read or write. To
overcome this, engineers at the Indian Institute of Sciences in
Bangalore, epicentre of the country's hi-tech activity, and a local
software company, Encore, developed a remarkable piece of
text-to-speech software. 

=====
David Goldstein
2/3 Belmont Ave, Glen Iris 3146, Australia
email: Goldstein_David@yahoo.com.au
phone: +61 3 9885 0601 (home)
       +61 418 228 605 (mobile)

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