Free PCs!

The PC revolution has brought us cheap computing power, but it's not cheap enough. The only way to get computing into the hands of the 75 percent of the U.S. population and 95 percent of the rest of the world that currently lack access is to change the model from a software and hardware base to a service base. Leasing won't work. Most people who need access wouldn't qualify, and necessary hardware and software upgrades require short amortization cycles. The "free PC" is a return to the central computing model, but with two changes: It is offered to the public, and it is fundamentally mobile. A service-based approach that uses PC servers connected via radio modems can give everyone access to e-mail, faxing, accounting, word processing, and the Internet, plus secure personal data storage, for about $20 a month. This approach recognizes bandwidth limitations by placing the central processor close to the user at the local ISP and connecting everyone by radio-frequency cells. Using templates stored in the "free PC" rather than applications to do most tasks reduces local processing and the amount of data transmitted. Internet usage is the bandwidth hog in the model, but if you strip out the graphics, the data stream becomes small. The "free PC" will provide mobile access but will not replace the PC for more intensive computing uses. -- Gary Tripp