I think our 'default' should not always be 'negative'. If you had attended the Digital Video Broadcast launch two days ago, then you would have found out that the University of Nairobi has embarked on local manufacture of "set top boxes" digital<-> analogue converters. The huge market being a sufficient reason justifying commercial viability. On Fri, Dec 11, 2009 at 8:42 AM, Alvin Jason Ochieng <ajochola@gmail.com> wrote:
This would be hard to sell in this mmarket
My 2 cents
On Fri, Dec 11, 2009 at 8:41 AM, Gakuru Alex <alexgakuru.lists@gmail.com> wrote:
Saidi,
Just to thank you for the "knowledge value" I find in many of your posts.
Sincerely,
Alex
On Thu, Dec 10, 2009 at 10:27 PM, saidimu apale <saidimu@gmail.com> wrote:
This is old news (the VIA OpenBook @ http://www.viaopenbook.com/), but it triggered some "new" questions in mind: - how feasible is it for a public-private-partnership (PPP) to setup a fabrication/assembly plant using the reference designs? - would the (eventual) cost be lower than off-the-shelf netbooks? - is the boost to the local knowledge economy worth the risks involved? - would anyone buy the units? Or are Kenyans too beholden to brand names (HP, Toshiba etc)? - is this a camouflaged reinvention of the wheel? - are there times when other factors justify reinventing portions of a wheel? What factors might those be? Engadget's review @ http://www.engadget.com/2008/05/27/via-openbook-hands-on/ If the ICT Board and the Government are serious about kickstarting local this and that, perhaps they should be asking themselves such questions. Or have they already? It would be great if university courses modified the reference designs for a local context and published their results. Or at the very least modifying a simpler circuit board like the Arduino http://www.arduino.cc/ (Wired has a good article about it @ http://www.wired.com/techbiz/startups/magazine/16-11/ff_openmanufacturing). Saidi _______________________________________________ Skunkworks mailing list Skunkworks@lists.my.co.ke http://lists.my.co.ke/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/skunkworks ------------ Skunkworks Server donations spreadsheet http://spreadsheets.google.com/ccc?key=0AopdHkqSqKL-dHlQVTMxU1VBdU1BSWJxdy1f... ------------ Skunkworks Rules http://my.co.ke/phpbb/viewtopic.php?f=24&t=94 ------------ Other services @ http://my.co.ke Other lists ------------- Announce: http://lists.my.co.ke/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/skunkworks-announce Science: http://lists.my.co.ke/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/science kazi: http://lists.my.co.ke/cgi-bin/mailman/admin/kazi/general
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