Technology is always in combat with heat, dust, and electricity fluctuations. Computer failures commonly occur because of high humidity, high temperatures, and harsh weather conditions, especially in developing countries where technology is more vulnerable to the elements. To address this problem, a new durable computer capable of battling weather and energy conditions in Third World countries is currently under testing and development. Dubbed the Solo Computer, the new technology is being designed by the Fantsuam Foundation, a non-profit organisation in Nigeria. The computers low-power design enables it to be used even away from electrical sources and can easily adapt to harsh and demanding environments.

The Solo has the same size of motherboard, ports, and connectors as a regular PC.  It does not have moving parts that might fail.  The hard disk is replaced by a flash card and this has been engineered to work with as little power as possible so it can run from a solar panel. A typical PC's power consumption is around 300 watts, while the Solo can run just on 8.5 watts.

While many Western countries have yet to comply with their obligations under the Agenda 21 of the Earth Summit in Rio in 1992, which pledged the greater use of sustainable energy sources, the Solo computer aims to alleviate this restriction.

The Solo is intended to be used primarily by personnel working for organisations in remote regions, possibly village schools, missionary stations, and clinics. It will also be of value to agriculturalists, health workers, and NGOs who must remain away from their base for indefinable periods. Initial cost for the computer starts at a base price of USD1000.

While the low-cost, tough computer for developing countries may seem beneficial, unfortunately not all efforts to bridge the digital divide with cheaper alternatives have been met with success. In 1999, The Simputer, which stands for simple, inexpensive and multilingual people's computer was developed by Simputer Trust, a non-profit organisation.  Similar in appearance to the Palm Pilot class of computers, it included text-to-speech software and runs on the GNU/Linux operating system, like the prototype of the Solo Computer.

Aiming to bring the internet revolution to Indias rural masses, the Simputer was marketed to developing nations in 2004.  However, it failed to live up to its initial goal of selling 50,000 units; only 4,000 Simputers were sold as of 2005. Some possible reasons for the low demand is the decrease of prices of ordinary laptop computers; or that prices were higher than expected. The USD100 laptop (also known as the Green Machine) developed by Nicholas Negroponte and his One Laptop Per Child (OPLC) non-profit organisation, though generally well-received at early stages, has also been criticised as unrealistic.

Several African officials, most notably Marthe Dansokho of Cameroon and Mohammed Diop of Mali claimed that the project had misplaced priorities and gave solutions not applicable to African problems.  With basic needs like clean water and education unmet in the countryside, having a laptop was still considered a luxury.

With the numerous problems being faced by developing countries, aside from lack of technology, how the Solo Computer will fare in the future remains to be seen.

Sources:

Exp LAN Computers LTD.  (2001).  RISCOS Solo Transportable Computer.  Retrieved March 20, 2006 from <http://www.explan.co.uk/hardware/solo.shtml>.

Fantsuam Foundation. (2006). Retrieved from <http://www.fantsuam.org/> on March 20, 2006.

Noronha, F. (2006). A computer for Africa. Tectonic. Retrieved March 20, 2006 from <http://www.tectonic.co.za/view.php?id=921>.

Slashdot. (2005). What happened to the Simputer? Retrieved March 20, 2006 from <http://hardware.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=05/04/15/0050205&from=rss>.

Wikipedia. (2006). The Simputer. Retrieved March 20, 2006 from <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Simputer>.

_____. (2006). $100 Laptop. Retrieved from March 20, 2006 <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/%24100_laptop>.