Cheap computing still isn’t cheap enough, says Eric Brewer, founder of Web-search company Inktomi. Brewer heads the University of California, Berkeley-based Technology and Infrastructure for Emerging Regions project.
Is Moore’s Law letting us down?
Even a hundred-dollar computer is too much for billions of people. The bigger problem is that we design technologies for the First World, then hand them down and hope they’re useful. A lot of times they’re not.
What’s your focus?
Reliable shared infrastructure and low-cost, point-to-point wireless connections. We’ve already got 10-kilometer broadband links, using $800 worth of modified Wi-Fi gear. Simulations say we can get to 80 kilometers.
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