Great article.
Sanjay
Here’s an article to add my thoughts:
http://www.inveneo.org/2014/07/the-e-waste-dilemma-where-do-broken-computers-go/
From: ict4d-principles@googlegroups.com [mailto:
ict4d-principles@googlegroups.com] *On Behalf Of *Ernest Ostro
Sent: Wednesday, March 25, 2015 8:44 PM
To: Gwendolyn Andersen; Jeff Wishnie; ict4d-principles@googlegroups.com;
Sanjay Jain
Subject: RE: [ICT4D Principles] OT? Reuse of older hardware
Hi Gwendolyn and Jeff and Sanjay:
It depends on what you want to use them for.
As Jeff notes, old computers are typically way more trouble than they are
worth, especially once you start to add in linux (which is fantastic but
not familiar and known by most end users). They can be a godsend under
certain tightly controlled conditions (such as single use computer labs)
but the whole industry is dedicated to pushing and driving down the cost of
the latest, not extending the lifespan of older machines. So you get into
incompatibilities with supported operating systems, which means you have
security vulnerabilities for malware, especially if they are connected to
any internet, which means…which means….
I know I’m speaking as someone with an IT background which gives me a
bias but I would ask if all that worth it when you can get really good
Android tablets and other devices now in the < $100 or even less than $50
range which have cellular connectivity options? I guess it really depends
on what you are trying to do, where, and how it will be supported. There
are plenty of examples of great intentions for older equipment becoming
complex paperweights.
In terms of Chromebooks with Brick (and other local server solutions like
Brick) the question is what is the server doing that the Chromebooks can
use? If its running web-site based applications, how will you deal with the
moving data out of the Brick? It could provide some advantages for a team
that needs to work together in a specific area but what if they are out of
range of the Brick – that’s where the Chromebook limitations come in. MSF
is looking at Chromebooks for DHIS2 FYI – that is a perfect use case for
them.
Be interesting to hear more about what you are trying to do…
Ernest
Ernest Ostro | Director, Software Systems
International Rescue Committee
122 East 42nd Street, NY, NY 10168 | Rescue.org
M. +1 347 688 2225| skype. ostro.ernest
From: ict4d-principles@googlegroups.com [
mailto:ict4d-principles@googlegroups.com
ict4d-principles@googlegroups.com] *On Behalf Of *Gwendolyn Andersen
Sent: Wednesday, March 25, 2015 6:51 PM
To: Jeff Wishnie; ict4d-principles@googlegroups.com; Sanjay Jain
Subject: RE: [ICT4D Principles] OT? Reuse of older hardware
Jeff,
What are your thoughts on combining Chromebooks with the BricK? (
www.brck.com)
G
Gwendolyn S. Andersen, MBA, MA | Senior Clean Energy Economist| Abt
Associates
4550 Montgomery Ave Suite 800 | Bethesda, MD 20814-5342
O: 301-347-5978 | Twitter: @gsa0939 http://www.twitter.com/gsa0939 |
Gwendolyn_Andersen@abtassoc.com
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www.abtassociates.com http://www.abtassociates.com/
From: ict4d-principles@googlegroups.com [
mailto:ict4d-principles@googlegroups.com
ict4d-principles@googlegroups.com] *On Behalf Of *Jeff Wishnie
Sent: Wednesday, March 25, 2015 5:22 PM
To: ict4d-principles@googlegroups.com; Sanjay Jain
Subject: Re: [ICT4D Principles] OT? Reuse of older hardware
Hi Sanjay,
In my experience out-of-tech computing equipment tends to be more of a
cost than it’s worth. Inveneo did a great white paper on the topic called
“Cheaper than Free” that laid out the costs associated with donated
computers compared to buying new ones. Old computers tend to take more
power (which is expensive when it comes from generators or solar), are
difficult to repair (lack of parts), certainly are closer to end-of-life on
expensive and hard to find parts (like batteries).
In addition, most of the places I work, steady reliable Internet is still
a long way off, so depending so heavily on Internet connectivity as
Chromebooks do can be a deal breaker.
I’m sure there are cases where a Chromebook like device makes sense—maybe
a lab environment with a local proxy server with the needed content so
terminals can be stateless and just contain browsers.
Though I suspect in those cases, buying a state-of-the-art (and very
cheap) Chromebook would be more cost effective than repurposing old
laptops.
–
Jeff
On March 25, 2015 at 1:13:45 PM, Sanjay Jain (sanjay@aghstrategies.com) >> wrote:
Hi all,
Not sure if this is off-topic for this group… More and more, things are
now being done on the web. The popularity of the Chrome-Book proves that
there are many people who mostly use their laptops on the web.
I’m not seeing any major effort to repurpose older computers for
Chrome-book type systems. I was able to install the Chromium Browser with
hangouts on Puppy Linux http://puppylinux.org, and created a distro
that would give new life to 10 year old laptops.
Wouldn’t these work in poorer countries and help bridge the digital
divide in richer countries?
I tried a while back, to get some Washington DC non-profits interested in
doing this to save eWaste, but didn’t get any traction. Any ideas from this
group?
~sanjay
–
Sanjay Jain
Nonprofit Database Specialist
AGH Strategies
(202) 248-6400 phone
(202) 521-1363 fax
aghstrategies.com
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