THE markets of Bangalore and Shanghai are stocked with simple 8-bit computers based on chips that consumers in wealthier nations stopped using years ago. Could these machines offer a way to provide children in India, China and other developing countries with educational software?
That is the idea behind , an organisation set up by researchers from the US, Brazil and India. The team is calling on public-spirited programmers to develop educational games for these simple machines.
Manufacturers in China alone sell 10 million 8-bit devices a year for around $10 each, says , a software researcher at the University of California, San Diego. These machines are based on the chip that powered the 1970s-vintage Apple II and the Nintendo Entertainment System. The processor is built into a keyboard, which plugs into any television.
Advertisement
Manufacturers already sell the machines with games cartridges, and Douglass says they would happily add educational games if available. 鈥淲e don鈥檛 have to build infrastructure or distribution,鈥� he says. 鈥淲e can just start publishing content.鈥� He made the call at the Emerging Technology Conference in San Jose, California, on 10 March.
