[Bridging_the_digital_divide] Low Cost Computers for Africa

[Jason Barkeloo]

Low Cost Computers Hit Stumbling Block
07/07/2004 09:28 AM
Lucas van Grinsven and Bernhard Warner

A pilot project in Africa which aims to provide a single computer that 
can be used by four school students simultaneously has stumbled across 
one of the business world's basic facts of life.

Why make a cheap machine when customers in the developed world will pay 
good money for a more expensive one?

The question hangs over efforts being made by American computer-maker 
Hewlett Packard, which in the last two weeks introduced the Multi-user 
441 desktop, a computer based on the open-source Linux operating 
system.

HP reckons the unique design - in which four keyboards and monitors are 
connected to a single central processing unit - will save schools up to 
60 percent of their ballooning computer costs.

But there is a hitch. HP has only made enough machines to sell to 
cash-starved school districts in South Africa.

As interest in the machine grows, the limited supply has turned a 
well-intentioned product into a source of confusion among educators and 
a point of debate among industry analysts, who question whether a major 
computer maker has an interest in bringing a low-cost alternative to a 
wider mass market.

"Usually what happens is, if we come across a system that works and 
works well, we try to spread it out across our (schools) network," said 
Sara Kyofuna, a member of SchoolNetAfrica, a non-profit organisation 
aiming to bring computers to classrooms in Africa's poorest nations.

"Why it would be made available for one market and not another, I 
really do not understand," she said.

But, Will It Work In Angola?

SchoolNetAfrica is a potential customer. It is interested in buying 
some of the terminals for schools in Angola, but now the outfit is 
unsure whether HP will supply them for schools there.

HP said while a wider roll-out schedule for the product has not been 
finalised, it would like to bring the machine to new markets by 
year-end. But, the computer maker added, the product will be marketed 
solely to developing nations.

In the meantime, HP said it is talking to Pan-African organisations 
such as SchoolNetAfrica to bring the 441 to markets outside South 
Africa. Impoverished school districts in Western Europe and North 
America though will have to wait.

SchoolNetAfrica is facing a dilemma familiar to anybody with a 
stretched technology budget. For boot-strapping start-ups in Moscow and 
poor school districts in downtown Johannesburg alike, bargain hunting 
is essential to meet growing IT needs.

A machine like the 441 may not suit everybody's computing needs, but HP 
has shown that the day for an economical PC has arrived and, quite 
possibly, unleashed a new era in computing.

Kudos From The Sidelines

HP rivals including International Business Machines Corp., applauded 
HP's move to bring a cheap Linux-based machine to market.

"Linux has always been able to support multiple users, and Intel 
processors are also able to support multiple users. It's a good use of 
the technology," said Doug Nielson, e-server consultant at IBM in 
Europe.

However, IBM could not say if it would follow suit.

Analysts wonder whether the cost of altruism may be too high for major 
computer makers whose bottom line depends on selling PCs. It's a common 
dilemma for companies who seek to sell their products in emerging 
markets.

"Large hardware vendors are likely to be reticent to introduce machines 
which might reduce their total sales," said Martin Hingley at market 
research group IDC.

They may be missing out on a yet-untapped market for small offices and 
home users, however. "There is a massive opportunity for something 
similar to this for the home," Hingley added.

Scary Linux

While availability remains one issue, a move to a cheap Linux machine 
can still scare users.

Ton Wagenaar, who manages the computer network at the Dalton secondary 
school in Voorburg, The Netherlands, likes the cost savings of Linux, 
but worries about his students' preferences.

"The Linux desktop is quite different from what students are used to in 
(Microsoft's) Windows. For that reason, I can't see a quick 
changeover," he said.

Moreover, users with elaborate computing needs would probably shy away 
from a multi-user machine like HP 441, said Nikos Drakos, an analyst 
with tech consultancy Gartner.

"That's why South African schools make sense. But it would not work for 
the general knowledge worker who needs to run software programs written 
for Windows," he said.

http://xtramsn.co.nz/news/0,,3782-3495250,00.html

---

Jason Barkeloo
President
TouchSmart Publishing
http://www.touchsmart.net
tele 513.225.8765


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