 device. Small businesses and local organizations can get microcredit loans to purchase solar panels to charge rechargeable batteries. These batteries will be rented out to the Talking Book users for a price that is less than what they pay for disposable batteries -- about US$0.25. This will progressively shift users to a more environmentally sustainable option than disposable batteries.
Through this approach, we introduce the system by leveraging existing, available and familiar power sources and then give users an incentive to move toward less familiar but greener energy. Kiosks will be powered by solar energy when grid power is not available. The device is designed to allow local assembly and replacement of parts, rather than throwing out the entire unit when one part is damaged. We are also looking into ways to encourage broken materials[or] units to be returned to kiosks, service centers, and/or points of sale, rather than just thrown out.
The Talking Book device will be showcased at the upcoming LinuxWorld Conference & Expo 's Linux Garage showcase area. "The Linux Garage is a themed area of the show floor that pays homage to the tinkering spirit inside every successful Linux developer," said a description on the LinuxWorld site. However, while the Talking Book device may not necessarily run Linux as its core operating system, the kiosks associated with the devices will, Schmidt said.
"We also plan to build kiosks that act as your local library," for people in villages where the devices will be made available, Schmidt said. "It makes sense to build on Linux because we want the cheapest hardware and no software licenses."
In addition, one of the open-source projects Schmidt's organization plans to build is a Windows-based authoring tool for content for the device.
According to the Literacy Bridge's Web site, the Talking Bridge device includes the following features:
Users can store and play multiple audio programs; Users can record new audio programs (to reduce costs for most users, this feature may not be available on the most basic version of the device); Users can copy the audio content to/from the device; Users can play back the audio at slow speeds for reading practice of an associated text document; Users can audio-hyperlink to another portion of the program for more detail or a related piece of information; Users can answer multiple-choice questions, enabling interactive learning; The audio program can optionally contain another file containing the content in text form -- this enables future transfer of the textual information to another computer for display, processing, or printing; The device can redirect the sound to an external, loud speaker (uses FM transmission to a nearby radio; The device accepts power from standard, locally available batteries, but also accepts new batteries that can be recharged with solar power at local kiosks; and the device interoperates with the XO computer (also known as the $100 Laptop).
Schmidt said he thinks the devices "can revolutionize the way knowledge is disseminated in the very poorest parts of the world and can drastically improve literacy skills ... I think it's going to be used similarly to the way we use the Internet but applied to the user's world. We're trying to leverage local organizations to provide health care information -- such as how to prevent the spread of HIV and malaria, agricultural information, and economic information, such as how to run a small business."
Schmidt cited studies that say more than 40 percent of adults in South Asia and Sub-Saharan Africa cannot meet the United Nations' basic definition of literacy, which is to be able to read and write a simple sentence about themselves.
"A device like ours has the power to address illiteracy from another side -- you don't wait until a person is literate to give them help," Schmidt said.
Meanwhile, Schmidt said he took a prototype of the device with him on a recent trip to Ghana to get feedback from the people who will use it. Upon his return his team came up with a new prototype that comes in three 