On Tue, Nov 22, 2011 at 5:52 PM, Mark Mwangi <mwangy@gmail.com> wrote:

I think it is a wonderful plan and should be replicated allover the country. I used to love reading books on history, science and even the works of socrates and was restricted to what the librarian at my school stocked. If I had access to 3000 books I believe I would have read a lot more and not have spent so much time on the TV.

the underlying principle is good - "lets encourage more reading, and improve access to reading" , but lets keep that aside for the moment, since it is mainly a statement of intent.

Lets start with the idea of a ebook reader -- it requires :
   1* electricity - to charge the ebook reader
   2* a computer - to add/remove books, update the software etc.
   3* cost -
            ~ $100 / ebook reader (if it drops, it breaks - yes, i have broken a kindle myself in that simple way ) ,
            ~ $300 cheap computer laptop ,
            ~ running cost - electricity (fuel)

the link mentioned that the project provided a generator to charge the ebook readers.

project cycles are dependent on funding -- anywhere between quarterly cycles to yearly. very very few projects extend into having a vision beyond a funding cycle or in terms of time -- lets say "a decade".

this thing doesnt look sustainable once the project cycle runs out. they could as well have dropped money from an aeroplane.