build a $10 handheld for the poor

Computers exist at a price point because

1. Companies that make them can make money at that price, because
2. People will spend that much

So what if you start with a different optimization criterion? What if you try to push Moore’s law the other way, and build, say, something with roughly the computational power of a Palm V for as little as you can? $10, say? It’s technically possible.

One person in four lives on US$1 a day or less. So a $10 computer is two weeks wages. I’d love to contribute to a computer that would help that 25% of the world find their way out of poverty.