Andart

the Globalization of Cheap Electronics

The Cheap Electronics Dissection Project fascinates me. The author buys cheap electronics in Ecuador for less than $10 and then picks it apart to see what is inside. And it is impressive how much one can get for so little. A wonderful example of technology diffusion and globalization at its best. While the devices are obiously lagging behind what you get in the richer countries they are not astronomically far behind, something I have been worrying about in terms of enhancement technologies.

Now we just need to figure out how to put together a $100 with a smarter businessplan than the current well-meaning but state-oriented project. If we want a laptop in every home I think we will be more likely to succeed if they are just very cheap and desirable, not by convincing a government to pay for it ("Great idea sir, but if we pay for it must run keylogging software so kid's parents not use it to blog illegally!")