SIMPUTER
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Simputer (Simple Computer) is a low-cost, portable alternative to personal computers. It is pegged as the first of its kind in the world as it promises to ensure that knowledge of English is no longer a barrier to handling a computer. It permits simple and natural, user-friendly interfaces based on sight, touch and audio.
A rapid growth of knowledge can only happen in an environment which admits exchange of thought and information. Indeed, nothing else can explain the astounding progress of science in the last three hundred years. Technology has unfortunately not seen this freedom too often. The solutions to bridging the much hyped and talked about digital divide can come from within the developing world itself Problems of access to telecommunications in the developing world have often paled into insignificance beside those of gaining access to a working computer capable of connecting to the internet. For a vast mass of the rural poor for whom a computer is probably as remote an option as a trip to the moon, the Simputer can well become the power button to prosperity.
INTRODUCTION
Even the poorest of the poor will pay for a service, if that service improves in someway their quality of life. Several corporates are now addressing rural markets and they have the need for information and communication infrastructure in remote rural locations.
For achieving this the Simputer project was conceived during the organization of the Global Village, an International Seminar on Information Technology for Developing Countries, conducted during Bangalore IT.com event in October 1998.
If the right service is made accessible in the right way information technology can impact the lives of the people all over the world .The Simputer is a low cost portable alternative to PCs, by which the benefits of IT can reach the common man. It has a special role in the third world because it ensures that knowledge of English is no longer a barrier to handling a computer.
This post was written by: Rajendra Prasad
Rajendra Prasad is a professional blogger, web designer and front end web developer. Follow him on Facebook
