<incom> Nicolas Carr: Devices for the Deviceless

[Geert Lovink]

Devices for the deviceless
February 28, 2008
By Nicolas Carr

http://www.roughtype.com/archives/2008/02/devices_for_the.php

There are an estimated half of a billion people in the world who surf 
the Net every day yet don't own a computer. They depend on the public 
PCs available in cybercafes, which in many cities and countries remain 
the centers of personal computing. Cloud computing is ideally suited to 
these so-called cybernomads, as it can provide them with, in essence, a 
computer to call their own - a virtual desktop, or "webtop," that 
exists entirely in an online data center and hence can be accessed from 
any PC. Cybernomads can use their password-protected webtops to run 
applications, store data, and share files with others. Webtops can 
provide an attractive alternative to the cheap laptops, like OLPC's XO 
and Intel's Classmate, in helping close the digital divide. Virtual PCs 
are more energy efficient than real PCs, they don't wear out or require 
physical maintenance, and they can often be provided free, through 
ad-supported or other subsidized programs.

As bandwidth costs fall and web apps proliferate, the webtop model 
becomes more viable in more places. The BBC today reports on a European 
startup, Jooce, that is emerging as a leader in the field. It's 
partnering with governmental agencies, NGOs, and local telephone 
companies and ISPs to provide its "Joocetop" to the deviceless. 
Currently in beta, the free service signed up 60,000 subscribers in its 
first month and it has the financial backing of Mangrove, which also 
backed Skype in its early days.

As the BBC notes, Jooce is far from the only company in this business. 
It's an increasingly crowded field, spanning not only companies serving 
the poor but also companies supplying virtual desktops to businesses to 
reduce PC maintenance costs and hassles. In fact, the people in 
cybercafes tapping into virtual PCs in the cloud may turn out to be the 
"lead users" of what will become, in one form or another, the dominant 
model of personal computing in the future. After all, aren't we all 
becoming cybernomads?