Small box 'to end digital divide'

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Small box 'to end digital divide'
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tahir

Joined: 28 Oct 2004
Posts: 45685
Location: Essex

Posted: Fri Apr 29, 05 4:47 pm Post subject: Small box 'to end digital divide'

A pared down "computer" to replace bulky, grey desktop PCs could help close global digital inequalities.

Not-for-profit developers, Ndiyo - the Swahili word for "yes" - said it could open up the potential of computing to two billion more people.

The sub-ï¿½100 box, called Nivo, runs on open-source software and is known as a "thin client". Several can be linked up to a central "brain", or server.

Thin clients are not new, but advances have made them more user-friendly.

They have been employed in large organisations in the past, but the Ndiyo project is about "ultra-thin client" networking.

It said the small, cheap boxes are targeted at smaller companies, cybercafes, or schools, which need an affordable, reliable system for providing clusters of two to 20 workstations.

"Your PC is a bulky, noisy, expensive mess that clutters up your life," Ndiyo's Dr Seb Wills told a Microsoft Research conference in Cambridge, UK.

"Our emphasis and core motivation is the developing world for whom the current 'one user, one PC' approach will never be affordable," he told the BBC News website.

"But we think our approach is also of benefit to organisations in the developed world who don't want to throw away money on buying and maintaining a full PC for each user."

Open source

Desktop machines with which we are familiar, are inflexible, and power-hungry, according to Ndiyo.

The energy and raw materials used for a PC is 11 to 12 times the weight of the machine, he explained.

Typical office workstation set-ups also use more power than thin clienting. A PC typically uses 100W of power, whereas Nivo uses five.

In some developing countries, buying a desktop computer is the equivalent to the price of a house, explained Dr Wills, making it difficult for people to take advantage of what computing technology can offer.

"Nowadays, PCs are about communication than anything else," he said. "We have the potential to rethink the way we could do this stuff," he added.

The boxes would not be able to handle graphics-intensive multimedia content currently, but that will change as ethernet bitrates improve to handle more data.

About 50% of UK's workforce work in organisations with fewer than 50 employees, according to Ndiyo.

NIVO'S OPEN SOURCE SOFTWARE
Ubuntu - Linux operating system
Gnome/KDE desktop
Open Office
Firefox browser
Gaim - instant messenger client
Thunderbird - cross-platform e-mail and Usenet client
Currently, each employee might have his or her own desktop machine, connected to the company network through ethernet connections, with software licences for each workstation.

Licences for software are often a significant part of expenditure for smaller companies which rely on computers.

But a recent UK government study, yet to be formally published, has shown that open source software can significantly reduce school budgets dedicated to computing set-ups.

Many organisations replace PCs every three years and also require technical support when something goes wrong.

Thin clients using open source software can mean these expenses are bypassed.

Since August 2004, Ndiyo has had a group of Java developers running large applications on the system to test out the robustness of the system.

The small Nivo box, developed along with commercial partner, Newnham Research in Cambridge, is essentially a computer - known as the "client" - which largely depends on the central server for processing activities.

Applications, for instance, are kept on the main server and accessed through the Nivo box.

Next generation

The Nivo unit itself measures around 12 by eight by two centimetres. It has no moving parts, but it has ports for ethernet, power, keyboard, mouse and a monitor.

It comes with two megabytes of RAM. The next version currently under development, will have a USB port, soundcard, local storage capacity, and will be even smaller.

"Essentially, it is about sending pixels over the net," explained Dr Wills.

"With modern ethernet connections, you can get enough performance by sending through compressed pixels."

A typical cybercafe set-up, Dr Wills explained, would involve 20 Nivo boxes, a gigabit switch, and a single 2Ghz, 2Gb RAM, server.

The not-for-profit origination is also working on the idea of using the Nivo box for "plug and play" clustering.

Ultimately, Ndiyo hopes that the box can shrink down to a single chip and introduce wireless ethernet connections.

"The vision is that the monitor will have an ethernet port which requires less electronics than the standard VGA monitor," said Dr Wills.

Open source software is used in many developing country computer initiatives. There are other attempts at providing cheap alternatives to desktop PCs for developing countries, such as the Simputer.

It is a cheap handheld computer designed by Indian scientists.

Story from BBC NEWS:
https://news.bbc.co.uk/go/pr/fr/-/1/hi/technology/4496901.stm

Published: 2005/04/29 11:26:22 GMT

ï¿½ BBC MMV

tahir

Joined: 28 Oct 2004
Posts: 45685
Location: Essex

Posted: Fri Apr 29, 05 4:48 pm Post subject:
Another pop at getting computing to the mainstream in developing countries, they certainly have lofty ambitions.

Treacodactyl
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Posted: Fri Apr 29, 05 4:55 pm Post subject:
It would be good if it worked. I'd be interested in seeing what networking and server stuff is needed. I would have thought some form of OS aimed at low end PII/PIII PCs would be a good idea as well.

tahir

Joined: 28 Oct 2004
Posts: 45685
Location: Essex

Posted: Fri Apr 29, 05 4:56 pm Post subject:
Well I'm learning more about it, one of my nephews is on a placement there and it was he who sent me the link. Looks good but I can't see what advantage it offers over all the other thin clients out there.

jema
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Posted: Fri Apr 29, 05 4:57 pm Post subject:

It reminds me a little of the promised death of the CRT, which even now is somewhat over stated.

But if you consider what 90% of PCs are used for, then it really aught to be possible to have a very cheap PC.

The software you need could easily be in cheap firmware, albeit it might need to be very cut down softwarte compared to the stand ard bloatware we use now.

The local storage requirement again need not be huge. Once apon a time, a 100mb hard disk was considered massive!

Processing speed could also be cut right back to save energy. What has changed in the last 10 years that makes the once mighty 100mhz processor useless? You would think a kind of inverse Moores law applies, with every 18 months you need double the processing power to perform the same task

Treacodactyl
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Posted: Fri Apr 29, 05 4:59 pm Post subject:
Something has to do the work, so would we be talking a high end server? What happens when it goes down?

tahir

Joined: 28 Oct 2004
Posts: 45685
Location: Essex

Posted: Fri Apr 29, 05 4:59 pm Post subject:
Most of our desktops at work are thin client (Windows Terminal Server) and I'm amazed that they're not the standard for non processor intensive tasks. Less power, more reliability, cheaper etc....

tahir

Joined: 28 Oct 2004
Posts: 45685
Location: Essex

Posted: Fri Apr 29, 05 5:00 pm Post subject:

Treacodactyl wrote:

Something has to do the work, so would we be talking a high end server? What happens when it goes down?

Doesn't necessarily need to be a high end server, and depending on the way you configure your network you could have a backup server available or even a server farm

Treacodactyl
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Posted: Fri Apr 29, 05 5:01 pm Post subject:

jema wrote:

But if you consider what 90% of PCs are used for, then it really aught to be possible to have a very cheap PC.

I think it's the same problem with many other consumer goods, advertising often tells people they need something and people believe it.

Silas

Joined: 29 Oct 2004
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Posted: Fri Apr 29, 05 5:03 pm Post subject:

Treacodactyl wrote:

jema wrote:

But if you consider what 90% of PCs are used for, then it really aught to be possible to have a very cheap PC.

I think it's the same problem with many other consumer goods, advertising often tells people they need something and people believe it.

You're bang on the button there!

jema
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Posted: Fri Apr 29, 05 5:11 pm Post subject:

Treacodactyl wrote:

jema wrote:

But if you consider what 90% of PCs are used for, then it really aught to be possible to have a very cheap PC.

I think it's the same problem with many other consumer goods, advertising often tells people they need something and people believe it.

Ypu can see this factor with notebook PCs, what people NEED is a long battery life, what they get is more power draining power features.

Treacodactyl
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Posted: Fri Apr 29, 05 5:13 pm Post subject:

jema wrote:

what people NEED is a long battery life

Not always true as laptops are often used as desktop replacements. A reasonable life is fine for many.

jema
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Posted: Fri Apr 29, 05 5:19 pm Post subject:

Treacodactyl wrote:

jema wrote:

what people NEED is a long battery life

Not always true as laptops are often used as desktop replacements. A reasonable life is fine for many.

I think I am allowed to generalise a little in a single sentence

and I think for those peope that need a notebook for what it actually represents e.g. mobile computer power, it is pretty true.
If a notebook is a simple desktop replacement, then batteries are a heavy waste of space.

sean
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Posted: Fri Apr 29, 05 5:51 pm Post subject:

To generalise a little: Most computers are grossly over-specced for most users needs. The factors driving down the cost of hardware have permitted programmers to write ever bulkier material with little added functionality.
Until we bought the mac (which was in a large part an aesthetic decision) we did everything on a P400 based PC. If you don't manipulate graphics or music for a living you simply do not need the power which most modern PCs offer.
But if we're going to bring porn and MP3s to the developing world will thin clients do the job?

tahir

Joined: 28 Oct 2004
Posts: 45685
Location: Essex

Posted: Fri Apr 29, 05 5:56 pm Post subject:

sean wrote:

But if we're going to bring porn and MP3s to the developing world will thin clients do the job?

No probs with MP3s or porn, it's more bandwidth than processing power you need unless you're talking about content creation.

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