Full Version: The Humane Reader uses 8-bit technology to bring Wikipedia to developing countries - Gizmag
<img alt="" height="1" width="1" />The Humane Reader uses 8-bit technology to bring [b]Wikipedia to developing countries[/b]
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When you search for just about anything on the Internet, it seems like a Wikipedia entry on that subject is almost always amongst the top ...
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QUOTE(Newsfeed @ Fri 30th July 2010, 11:43am) 
<img alt="" height="1" width="1" />The Humane Reader uses 8-bit technology to bring [b]Wikipedia to developing countries[/b]
Gizmag
When you search for just about anything on the Internet, it seems like a Wikipedia entry on that subject is almost always amongst the top ...
and more »
View the article
QUOTE
So, with that in mind, what do you do if you want to bring a significant portion of the information on the Internet to people who can’t afford net access? You load a searchable offline version of Wikipedia onto a US$20 8-bit computer, that they can watch through their TVs. That’s what computer consultant Braddock Gaskill has done with his Humane Reader, which he hopes will find a place in homes, schools and libraries in developing nations.
The Humane Reader can reportedly hold the equivalent of 5,000 books, and doesn’t require Internet access or a separate computer. It does require a television, which are far more common than Internet connections in the developing world – where, according to Gaskill’s research, only 20 percent of the population has web access. It stores its data on a reloadable SD memory card, which he claims can contain most, if not all of Wikipedia, in a variety of languages. It can be used with a keyboard, although it doesn’t require one.
If produced in quantities of at least 10,000, the Humane Reader will sell for US$20. Gaskill hopes to sell it to non-government organizations, educators, non-profits or other aid agencies.
This isn’t the first time Wikipedia has been made available on a stand-alone computer. The WikiReader is an existing product that does the same thing, and includes its own LCD screen. At $US99, however, it’s not as charity-friendly.
The Humane Reader can reportedly hold the equivalent of 5,000 books, and doesn’t require Internet access or a separate computer. It does require a television, which are far more common than Internet connections in the developing world – where, according to Gaskill’s research, only 20 percent of the population has web access. It stores its data on a reloadable SD memory card, which he claims can contain most, if not all of Wikipedia, in a variety of languages. It can be used with a keyboard, although it doesn’t require one.
If produced in quantities of at least 10,000, the Humane Reader will sell for US$20. Gaskill hopes to sell it to non-government organizations, educators, non-profits or other aid agencies.
This isn’t the first time Wikipedia has been made available on a stand-alone computer. The WikiReader is an existing product that does the same thing, and includes its own LCD screen. At $US99, however, it’s not as charity-friendly.
An idea proposed by myself and a number of people on WR for years. The "humane reader" requires a TV. The next generations of cell phones have a screen. What they don't have is Wikipedia's text on a microSD card, though they do have a slot for one.
If the WMF realized that most of the world has cell phones (though no good net access), and that most of the world will soon have cell phones that will take an SD card, they'd have been working on the offline Wikipedia for some time now.
But, they're too stupid. It's taking outside entrepeneurs to do it. In this case, not even a guy particularly interested in profit, as the wikireader guy is.
This is all coming, and WMF isn't on the forefront of it.
It reminds me sort of like Bill Gates in 1993, saying the internet would be important in the future (hey, maybe Microsquish should work on a browser, like those other companies were...duuuuhhh).
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