Intel today released the specifications for its "Community PC". The devices were designed for use in rural India, where people rent their computing time in small kiosks from local merchants. There they stay in touch with relatives and file or access government forms.

The fact that many people share a single computer combined with the Indian climate and environment make that your typical Dell desktop system isn't up to the job. The systems have to deal with errant power supply, bugs (the kind with legs) and dust tend to invade the units, and high temperatures and humidity often render the computers useless.

That’s why Intel years ago hired a group of anthropologists to find out how it could increase the market for its processors in such markets like India. The chipmaker believes that Western technology can be sold in emerging economies, as long as it solves a real problem.

So the Community PC features a backup power source, dust filter and additional cooling to cope with the harsh climate. The computer also comes with a special feature that allows the owner to quickly "reset" the unit to get rid of any worms or spyware that uses might have downloaded during their sessions.

This Tuesday, Nicholas Negroponte is scheduled to deliver the opening keynote at LinuxWorld in Boston. Negroponte is the driving force behind the $100 Linux laptop for developing nations. While the laptop attacks some of the developing world's problems such as erratic power supply, it doesn't aim to solve any specific problems. Instead the project leaves it up to the users to find applications for the units, much like the way that we're constantly finding new uses for PC technology in the West.

The $100 laptop project is focused on creating a low cost computer, Intel thinks that the right application will justify the investment. The two are taking a dramatically different approach. Both have some claim to validity, but years of aid work have shown that Intel's approach tends to work better than MIT's.

Tags: intel, aid work, emerging economies, nicholas negroponte

30 Mar 2006