Jhai PC

• Low cost, rugged computers for remote villages in Laos with no electricity or phones.

• Powered by manually operated foot cranks.

• Connected by radio.

New York Times: The Pedal-Powered Intenet

“A remote farmer in the dirt-poor country of Laos wants to check some e-mail. So he goes

to the only computer in his village. (It's bolted to the floor of a public building, to

prevent theft.) He brings a friend along -- not to Web-surf with him, but to pedal a bicycle-driven generator that powers the computer.

When they've cranked out enough juice, they can log onto the Web, using a jury-rigged set

of wireless antennae. It's a clunky system made out of spare parts, but when it goes

live next year, it will become the newest way to hook up the developing world: the pedal-

powered Internet.”

Why Jhai PC?• Communication by e-mail in Lao language

– Customers in Vientiane or elsewhere– Relatives overseas– Staff of Jhai foundation in US

• Business Tools– Word processing– Spreadsheets

• Education (computer skills)• Information

– Prices for rice, vegetables, woven goods– Medical information

What is Jhai PC?• Hardened equipment, designed to last 10 years.• No moving parts: 486 CPU, keyboard, roller ball,

LCD screen, dot matrix printer, 96M disk-on-chip.• LINUX-based software and KDE graphical

desktop, localized into Lao language.• Powered by bicycle pedals connected to a

generator, connected to a small car battery.• Each village connects by radio to a single solar-

powered repeater. Repeater connects to a microwave tower, which connects to Vientiane.

Sustainability

• Hardened for 10 years of service.• Jhai Foundation to provide computer training and

business training to high school students in each village.

• Students will run village computer as a business.• Jhai Foundation will be available for assistance for

at least one year. Will also guarantee functioning of systems, and repair broken systems.

Choices made by Jhai Foundation

• Extra effort for reliable system rather than training local technicians to repair.

• Human-powered rather than, e.g., a gas generator.

• One computer per village rather than smaller, cheaper machines for each household.

Russian Cybiko• $99 combination

PDA/Game player (think Gameboy) with wireless connectivity

• Currently marketed to teenagers in Europe and America - Games, organizer, optional MP3 player, etc…

• Could this be adapted for use as a low-cost computing device in the developing world?