<html xmlns:v="urn:schemas-microsoft-com:vml" xmlns:o="urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:office" xmlns:w="urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:word" xmlns:x="urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:excel" xmlns:p="urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:powerpoint" xmlns:a="urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:access" xmlns:dt="uuid:C2F41010-65B3-11d1-A29F-00AA00C14882" xmlns:s="uuid:BDC6E3F0-6DA3-11d1-A2A3-00AA00C14882" xmlns:rs="urn:schemas-microsoft-com:rowset" xmlns:z="#RowsetSchema" xmlns:b="urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:publisher" xmlns:ss="urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:spreadsheet" xmlns:c="urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:component:spreadsheet" xmlns:odc="urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:odc" xmlns:oa="urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:activation" xmlns:html="http://www.w3.org/TR/REC-html40" xmlns:q="http://schemas.xmlsoap.org/soap/envelope/" xmlns:D="DAV:" xmlns:mt="http://schemas.microsoft.com/sharepoint/soap/meetings/" xmlns:x2="http://schemas.microsoft.com/office/excel/2003/xml" xmlns:ois="http://schemas.microsoft.com/sharepoint/soap/ois/" xmlns:dir="http://schemas.microsoft.com/sharepoint/soap/directory/" xmlns:ds="http://www.w3.org/2000/09/xmldsig#" xmlns:dsp="http://schemas.microsoft.com/sharepoint/dsp" xmlns:udc="http://schemas.microsoft.com/data/udc" xmlns:xsd="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema" xmlns:sub="http://schemas.microsoft.com/sharepoint/soap/2002/1/alerts/" xmlns:ec="http://www.w3.org/2001/04/xmlenc#" xmlns:sp="http://schemas.microsoft.com/sharepoint/" xmlns:sps="http://schemas.microsoft.com/sharepoint/soap/" xmlns:xsi="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema-instance" xmlns:udcs="http://schemas.microsoft.com/data/udc/soap" xmlns:udcxf="http://schemas.microsoft.com/data/udc/xmlfile" xmlns:udcp2p="http://schemas.microsoft.com/data/udc/parttopart" xmlns:wf="http://schemas.microsoft.com/sharepoint/soap/workflow/" xmlns:dsss="http://schemas.microsoft.com/office/2006/digsig-setup" xmlns:dssi="http://schemas.microsoft.com/office/2006/digsig" xmlns:mdssi="http://schemas.openxmlformats.org/package/2006/digital-signature" xmlns:mver="http://schemas.openxmlformats.org/markup-compatibility/2006" xmlns:m="http://schemas.microsoft.com/office/2004/12/omml" xmlns:mrels="http://schemas.openxmlformats.org/package/2006/relationships" xmlns:spwp="http://microsoft.com/sharepoint/webpartpages" xmlns:ex12t="http://schemas.microsoft.com/exchange/services/2006/types" xmlns:ex12m="http://schemas.microsoft.com/exchange/services/2006/messages" xmlns:pptsl="http://schemas.microsoft.com/sharepoint/soap/SlideLibrary/" xmlns:spsl="http://microsoft.com/webservices/SharePointPortalServer/PublishedLinksService" xmlns:Z="urn:schemas-microsoft-com:" xmlns:st="" xmlns="http://www.w3.org/TR/REC-html40">
<head>
<meta http-equiv=Content-Type content="text/html; charset=utf-8">
<meta name=Generator content="Microsoft Word 12 (filtered medium)">
<!--[if !mso]>
<style>
v\:* {behavior:url(#default#VML);}
o\:* {behavior:url(#default#VML);}
w\:* {behavior:url(#default#VML);}
.shape {behavior:url(#default#VML);}
</style>
<![endif]-->
<style>
<!--
/* Font Definitions */
@font-face
{font-family:"Cambria Math";
panose-1:2 4 5 3 5 4 6 3 2 4;}
@font-face
{font-family:Calibri;
panose-1:2 15 5 2 2 2 4 3 2 4;}
/* Style Definitions */
p.MsoNormal, li.MsoNormal, div.MsoNormal
{margin:0in;
margin-bottom:.0001pt;
font-size:12.0pt;
font-family:"Times New Roman","serif";}
a:link, span.MsoHyperlink
{mso-style-priority:99;
color:blue;
text-decoration:underline;}
a:visited, span.MsoHyperlinkFollowed
{mso-style-priority:99;
color:purple;
text-decoration:underline;}
p
{mso-style-priority:99;
mso-margin-top-alt:auto;
margin-right:0in;
mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto;
margin-left:0in;
font-size:12.0pt;
font-family:"Times New Roman","serif";}
span.EmailStyle19
{mso-style-type:personal-reply;
font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif";
color:#1F497D;}
.MsoChpDefault
{mso-style-type:export-only;
font-size:10.0pt;}
@page Section1
{size:8.5in 11.0in;
margin:1.0in 1.0in 1.0in 1.0in;}
div.Section1
{page:Section1;}
-->
</style>
<!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
<o:shapedefaults v:ext="edit" spidmax="1026" />
</xml><![endif]--><!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
<o:shapelayout v:ext="edit">
<o:idmap v:ext="edit" data="1" />
</o:shapelayout></xml><![endif]-->
</head>
<body lang=EN-US link=blue vlink=purple>
<div class=Section1>
<p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif";
color:#1F497D'>Thought you all might enjoy this<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif";
color:#1F497D'><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif";
color:#1F497D'>Ron<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif";
color:#1F497D'><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<table class=MsoNormalTable border=0 cellpadding=0>
<tr>
<td style='padding:.75pt .75pt .75pt .75pt'>
<p><span style='font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif"'><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p><span style='font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif"'>SAN JOSE, California —
The Apple II computer is long gone, but its heart beats on in the developing
world, where 8-bit computers sell for as little as $12. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p><span style='font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif"'>Now, computer scientists
see a way of using those ubiquitous, primitive PCs to help kids learn — by
playing games.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p><span style='font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif"'>"It is about
bringing affordable computer learning to the 90 percent of learners in the
world who can't afford a $1,000 or even a $100 computer," says Derek
Lomas, who is leading the <a href="http://playpower.org/">Playpower.org</a>
team.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p><span style='font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif"'>The project, first talked
about last year, is gathering steam. Lomas and his partners are talking to
manufacturing partners in China to produce the $12 systems, which are based
on cheap computers already sold throughout the developing world. Some of the
computers will be sold through Maker Shed, the e-commerce arm of <em><span
style='font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif"'>Make</span></em> magazine in the
United States, while the rest will be distributed through non-profit partners
in developing countries. And the Playpower team has collaborated with other
groups in the 8-bit computer hacking community to help build educational
software for the computers. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p><span style='font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif"'>The Playpower team touted
its ambitious project with a high-energy presentation in front of a
standing-room-only hotel conference room at ETech 2009 in San Jose. While
8-bit musician Jordan Gray improvised funky digital beats on a PSP, the
screen displayed a rapid-fire series of images showing photographs of poor
children, screenshots from old 8-bit games like <em><span style='font-family:
"Calibri","sans-serif"'>Oregon Trail</span></em> and relevant stats
("More than 4 billion people earn less than $3,000 per year").<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p><span style='font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif"'>The $12 computing system
itself defies conventional expectations of what a computer today should be.
The soul of the Apple II and a geek microprocessor favorite of the 1970s, the
8-bit 6502 processor is the heart of these computers. It is small enough to
be contained within a full-size keyboard and sold for mere dollars. The
keyboard also has a slot for game cartridges, and is usually sold with a
mouse and two game controllers. Many of these systems are currently on sale
as "TV computers" in Bombay, Bangalore and Nicaragua. They are
often packaged in boxes emblazoned with unlicensed cartoon art (Mario,
Spiderman) and misspelled English ("Lerrn compiters the fun way!")
and are bundled with games that would likely be copyright violations in the
United States. And like the early home computers sold in the United States,
they plug into a TV screen for display. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p><span style='font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif"'>Although these computers
are currently aimed at the gaming market, Playpower.org envisions using them
to deliver educational software and learning games to children in developing
countries. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p><span style='font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif"'>The project will run on
machines that are within the reach for millions of families that make less
than $3,000 a year, say Lomas and his partners, Jeremy Douglass and Daniel
Rehn, all students at the University of California at San Diego. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p><span style='font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif"'>It's an ambitious project
and one that requires just a tad of youthful optimism to pull it off. Dodge a
pothole in China or India and you are likely to bump into the carcass of yet
another ambitious attempt to bring low-cost computing to the developing
world. The MIT Media Lab-backed <a href="http://laptop.org/en/">One Laptop
Per Child</a> project planned to bring $100 computers to those in need. That
project has <a
href="http://blog.wired.com/business/2008/01/intel-breaks-up.html">never been
able</a> to achieve that price point, although OLPC cofounder Mary Lou Jepsen
said Tuesday here that more than a million of the project's XO laptops had
been shipped to kids in more than 30 countries. Recently, Indian government
officials made an announcement of a $10 "computer" that <a
href="http://blog.wired.com/gadgets/2009/02/indias-10-lapto.html">proved to
be a dud</a>. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p><span style='font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif"'>"The $100 laptop
does a lot of things that makes it expensive, such as its screen, own power
system and a faster processor," says Lomas.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p><span style='font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif"'>But Playpower.org offers
something different. The group hasn't created a new machine. Instead it
builds on something that already exists. Lomas first saw one of these
inexpensive 8-bit computer at a computer market in Mumbai where he was on an
internship. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p><span style='font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif"'>"There are many
manufacturers in India and China that make them since the chip went off
patent a few years ago," says Lomas who brought the $12 computer back to
the United States. "And while it may not be powerful enough to run
YouTube or surf the internet at high speed, it is great for educational games
and related ideas."<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p><span style='font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif"'>For most Americans, if
the 8-bit processor sounds like a blast from the past, it is. The 8-bit 6502
chip technology, along with the Zilog z80, kicked off the U.S. home-computing
revolution, aided in part by enthusiast organizations such as the <a
href="http://www.wired.com/science/discoveries/news/2009/03/dayintech_0305">Homebrew
Computer Club</a>. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p><span style='font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif"'>Early 6502 home computers
included the Apple II, the BBC Micro and the Commodore PET. All of them
included the Basic programming language. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p><span style='font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif"'>The 8-bit machines faded
away in the United States to be replaced by the Pentiums and Core2Duo processors.
But in China and many parts of Asia, the chips are still produced, to the
tune of more than a million chips a year, estimates Lomas. And they are very
cheap. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p><span style='font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif"'>"Rather than figure
out how we can create a cultural niche for a $10 computer, we thought: Let's
identify the systems that are affordable and in demand, and put them to
work," says Jeremy Douglass, co-founder of Playpower.org. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p><span style='font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif"'>The games that the
Playpower.org project is developing for the 8-bit computer will teach users
basic skills such as English and typing. And they are working on some fun
ideas. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p><span style='font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif"'>Playpower.org has
collaborated with <a href="http://www.8bitpeoples.com/">8BitPeoples</a>, a
collective of artists focused on applying the 8-bit aesthetic to games and
music, says Rehn. The collective provides music that can be used in
Playpower's games, for instance.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p><span style='font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif"'>Creating software and
games for the $12, 8-bit computer will be easy, says Lomas. After all, it's
something even fifth graders can do, sbecause the Basic programming language
remains part of the elementary school curriculum in many schools in China and
India. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p><em><span style='font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif"'>(With additional
reporting from Dylan Tweney)</span></em><span style='font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif"'><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p><em><span style='font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif"'>Photos: Top -- Jeremy
Douglass, Derek Lomas and Daniel Rehn jam with collaborator and 8-bit
musician Jordan Gray (second from the right) while holding 8-bit computers.
Bottom -- Douglass and Lomas chat with Visicalc cofounder Bob Frankston.
Photos by Dylan Tweney / Wired.com</span></em><span style='font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif"'><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p><span style='font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif"'><a
href="http://feedads.googleadservices.com/~at/tSPJcfcOsfnhprnoHPsr4gkvhj8/a"><span
style='text-decoration:none'><img border=0 id="_x0000_i1027"
src="http://feedads.googleadservices.com/~at/tSPJcfcOsfnhprnoHPsr4gkvhj8/i"
ismap></span></a><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<div>
<p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif"'><a
href="http://feeds2.feedburner.com/~ff/GearFactor?a=ZB-rykroSGI:LCia8DfX9LU:cGdyc7Q-1BI"><span
style='text-decoration:none'><img border=0 id="_x0000_i1028"
src="http://feeds2.feedburner.com/~ff/GearFactor?d=cGdyc7Q-1BI"></span></a><a
href="http://feeds2.feedburner.com/~ff/GearFactor?a=ZB-rykroSGI:LCia8DfX9LU:V_sGLiPBpWU"><span
style='text-decoration:none'><img border=0 id="_x0000_i1029"
src="http://feeds2.feedburner.com/~ff/GearFactor?i=ZB-rykroSGI:LCia8DfX9LU:V_sGLiPBpWU"></span></a><a
href="http://feeds2.feedburner.com/~ff/GearFactor?a=ZB-rykroSGI:LCia8DfX9LU:gIN9vFwOqvQ"><span
style='text-decoration:none'><img border=0 id="_x0000_i1030"
src="http://feeds2.feedburner.com/~ff/GearFactor?i=ZB-rykroSGI:LCia8DfX9LU:gIN9vFwOqvQ"></span></a><a
href="http://feeds2.feedburner.com/~ff/GearFactor?a=ZB-rykroSGI:LCia8DfX9LU:yIl2AUoC8zA"><span
style='text-decoration:none'><img border=0 id="_x0000_i1031"
src="http://feeds2.feedburner.com/~ff/GearFactor?d=yIl2AUoC8zA"></span></a><o:p></o:p></span></p>
</div>
<p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif"'><img
border=0 width=1 height=1 id="_x0000_i1032"
src="http://feeds2.feedburner.com/~r/GearFactor/~4/ZB-rykroSGI"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
</td>
</tr>
</table>
<p><span style='font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif"'><br>
<a
href="http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/GearFactor/~3/ZB-rykroSGI/12-computers-ba.html">View
article...</a><o:p></o:p></span></p>
</div>
</body>
</html>