Tech
How bulky is your Internet?
Bill Gates wants to deliver the Net to the poor via cell phone. Nicholas Negroponte (he of the world of bits obliterating the world of atoms) wants to make the Net available to hundreds of millions of kids by laptop. What do you think would work?
The New York Times reports that Bill Gates wants to deliver the Net to the poor via cell phone with a dongle that connects a TV/monitor and keyboard. Nicholas Negroponte (he of the world of bits obliterating the world of atoms) wants to make the Net available to hundreds of millions of kids by $100 laptop.
Robert Scoble, admittedly a Microsoftie, says cell phone.
TeleRead's David Rothman says laptop.
I say: How about a cell phone running Linux or the Mac OS? I tend to think that in most of the world you'd want to have something you carried along—certainly for the poor, who live at risk of having their lives upended by economics or warfare, a cell phone makes a lot more sense.
What do you think would work?