Linux-Powered Endless Computer Raises $100k+ In A Few Days

[riklaunim]

If someone thinks that the "developing countries" need such things, then check this forum thread: https://www.techenclave.com/communit...%B917k.173596/

or the source: http://www.reddit.com/r/shittykickst...uter_and_help/

[asdfblah]

LTE in the developing world? Why are you so worried about wifi, don't you think they can use wires?

By "LTE" I mean "whatever cellular communications system they have in their place". And no, not everyone has cable internet access, not even in 1st world countries...

People in developing countries are happy to get any access to the internet, they won't be fussy about portability. I was in Ethiopia showing them how to use refurbished Pentium 4s to teach kids. They had 512KB download between a class of about 20, and a few EDGE dongles with poor signal. Most of them were happy just to get on to Google for a bit or Facebook. They aren't stupid of course. The Pentium 4s were basic but a lot of them were asking how to get programs for film editing or how to get Photoshop.

There was a huge problem with viruses on USB sticks. We put Edubuntu on the P4s which was good because those sticks couldn't infect them. I think that most of the teachers would have preferred Windows because they already knew that software.

And where would you get the P4s in the first place? What about the electricity for them? How would you use them in places that have unstable supply of electricity?
Aren't "mini-pc"s (raspberry-pi2/odroids, chinese pcs-on-a-stick and so on) way cheaper and better than having to transport and run a P4? Again, CPUs these days are as powerful and efficient as those made 1+ decades ago...

[chrisb]

LTE in the developing world? Why are you so worried about wifi, don't you think they can use wires?

Theft of copper wires is more of a problem in the developing world. Though it happens in the developed world too.

[Passso]

There was a huge problem with viruses on USB sticks. We put Edubuntu on the P4s which was good because those sticks couldn't infect them. I think that most of the teachers would have preferred Windows because they already knew that software.

Get back there, I am sure they installed a crack Window ;p

[AndyChow]

I did not mean that as the only sources of power (i.e. also with possibility to just charge via micro-usb or whatever is most widespread), but rather as ways to get independent of the grid which might be unreliable or not available at all.

Good luck powering a screen with a hand-crank. No electricity means no internet, which makes the device useless.

BTW, here's a similar device that has 64GB eMMC, a faster intel x64 chip, for 120$, with shipping. Never mind the link name, http://www.aliexpress.com/item/Win7-...797389531.html

These kick-starters seem mostly like marketing gimmicks. Useless in the real world, but catch the attention of people that have too much money and not enough common sense.

[Passso]

Good luck powering a screen with a hand-crank. No electricity means no internet, which makes the device useless.

BTW, here's a similar device that has 64GB eMMC, a faster intel x64 chip, for 120$, with shipping. Never mind the link name, http://www.aliexpress.com/item/Win7-...797389531.html

These kick-starters seem mostly like marketing gimmicks. Useless in the real world, but catch the attention of people that have too much money and not enough common sense.

You win.

[cutterjohn]

... because 500GB hard drives and blutooth is what kids in the developing world need ... or so ... Srsly, gimme a RasPi-based laptop with a hand crank (EDIT: or solar cells in the lid) any time over that.

worse. Celeron n2955u ASUS chromeboxes are regularly on "sale" for c. $100, upgradeable to 16GB, have wifi(probably bluetooth too, but I don't use it and don't recall the specs offhand), might ship with a measly 32GB NGFF drive but IT IS upgradeable(again) to IIRC 256GB is the current largest size, but 128GB are c. $55(or it was when I bought mine for the chromebox -> openelec/kodi box).

I don't get these guys constantly wanting to re-invent the wheel and such a gimped one at that. As even cheaper would be a raspberry pi model b 2 or an odroid for c. $35 if supercheap is the goal.

Why?! Just Why?!

[sgnn7]

worse. Celeron n2955u ASUS chromeboxes are regularly on "sale" for c. $100, upgradeable to 16GB, have wifi(probably bluetooth too, but I don't use it and don't recall the specs offhand), might ship with a measly 32GB NGFF drive but IT IS upgradeable(again) to IIRC 256GB is the current largest size, but 128GB are c. $55(or it was when I bought mine for the chromebox -> openelec/kodi box).

I don't get these guys constantly wanting to re-invent the wheel and such a gimped one at that. As even cheaper would be a raspberry pi model b 2 or an odroid for c. $35 if supercheap is the goal.

Why?! Just Why?!

I'm a dev for Endless and I just noticed this thread. I can probably answer some of the questions that you guys posted:

Are we offering the cheapest possible computer?
- You know the answer to this one but we're also working on the OS to make it very easy to use for people that haven't used a computer before and even though it might not be a popular answer, the development of something like that is not free. Without wide-spread use, we can't go the RH route of funding things with support contracts at this time either. Furthermore there is a performance level that we think that our users deserve while keeping the price low.

Are we offering the fastest computer for the price?
- Initial machine tooling, board designs/testing/qa, driver enhancement are all costs that big companies can absorb pretty readily that we as a small one might not be able to do. Along with that, we are trying to find the right point of performance vs price that our users will want and not deem it "too slow" so while it's not something that tech-savvy people in the US would generally choose, our user field tests have been pretty positive.

Why not RPi?
- We've done tests with RPis/ODROIDs but it didn't work out. Hardware broke down way too quickly in 90+ degree weather, stable SD cards were near impossible to find, hardware was too slow, and we had no way to fix problems with the Mali graphics driver at that time. ARM was also not in the best place for development on that platform either. RPi is also not as cheap as people think as you need the power adapter, SD card, and case which makes the price much higher than the advertised $35.

Why not OLPC?
- We're targeting a different group of people. OLPC is targeted at children in extremely rural areas while we are targeting a general audience in developing countries. Also, we found the OLPS OS extremely lacking in usability. Our target users have electricity, have mobile phones, maybe have TVs, but have no desktop/laptop since they can't afford one and/or they never used one and/or don't know how to use them.

Why not Chromebook?
- ChromeOS is designed for Internet connectivity and is pretty much a brick without it while we went the opposite direction.

Why not Xubuntu/MATE/GNOME2/etc?
- We believe that all of those are still too hard to use or non-intuitive. We had a number of people in Brazil conduct ground tests on various options and all were found lacking (not easy to use, not OSS, not "break-proof", etc).

Why the "fancy" machine?
- Developing world wants aesthetically pleasing things just as much as we do. Purely functional devices are fine but it doesn't hurt if it's easy on the eyes as well.

Why "reinvent the wheel"?
- I wouldn't say that we're reinventing the wheel but more going for the market that people didn't look at before. Might not be empirical evidence but enough people believe that we might be onto something as we got the funding goal accomplished in 4 days.

Why not a tablet?
- Mobile devices are generally for data consumption and not creation. Tablets have screens that are also too small, they don't have enough (if any) ports, and still require a kb/mouse-usable OS.

Only HDMI?
- We have both VGA and HDMI

All open source?
- No but we release as much as we can (https://github.com/endlessm). Some custom parts that we developed parts we want full flexibility to change at any time and we are still small enough that a bigger company could just take our work if we turn everything open-source so for now we're keeping a couple of things proprietary (mainly app handling stuff.

Why are we doing this vs sending money, making solar panels there, etc?
- There are organizations that do that already and we believe that easy access to useful information is extremely important for our users as it can directly and indirectly significantly increase their quality of life. This may not seem true but the average Phoronics user that is well educated, drinks potable water, and has Internet available 24/7 doesn't have the same priorities as a farmer in rural Brazil that hasn't been taught first aid, world history, or how to grow crops more efficiently.

I can try to answer any other questions that you might have though I can't promise to know all the details since I'm mainly a software dev.

[philip550c]

I think someone needs to create a blog or something dedicated to crappy first world solutions to third world problems.

yes like feeding them insects.

http://www.fastcoexist.com/1682049/a-grand-plan-for-feeding-the-world-with-insects