Pedal Power For VoIP Minutes: A Third-World digital divide solution?
There's a lot of buzz in the blogosphere about "VoIP on a Bike," a Linux-powered VoIP system that gives a user one hour of VoIP access time for every 15 minutes of pedalling power.
The concept is, by pedaling, you generate enough power to run the digital devices you are accessing VoIP- or other Internet functionalities you wish to use.
Apparently, this technology is being aimed at the third world. It's offered by Inveneo, a non-profit group dedicated to offering email, Web browsing, and yes, VoIP to Third-World communities.
"In a village, a user might trade pedaling time for phone time-or get paid by someone who wants to use the phone but doesn't want to work so hard," writes InfoWorld's Ephraim Schwartz.
An hour of VoIP time for 15 minutes of cycling? Gee, I wonder how many thousands of hours Lance Armstrong would accrue...