Developing World Internet "Canning Factories" Can Be More Practical Than Wiring  Rural Area ISPs!

 

editor's note: This article might be the perfect example of the limitations of technology. Notice the Google sponsored ads above and at the top of the left menu. Google's software, which is probably the most advanced search engine software there is, cannot discern that I'm not talking about actual "canning factories" that process food but rather figurative "canning factories" that process Internet information into cds for storage and distribution. If the sponsored links go to food canning sites now you know why.

 

What's an Internet canning factory you ask. At its minimum, it's a computer center connected to a fast internet connection that downloads Internet material and burns it onto cd for use by computer users in areas where there is no Internet access or where the cost of access is prohibitive. Internet Factories can put together certain packages such as medical cds or agricultural cds.  Or staff can download and burn a custom request for a small fee. Canning Factories can be a business opportunity in the developing world (much like a telegraph office in the developed world's history). Think on this, if a rural village without internet access receive 10,000 cds chuck full of info would they have enough info to keep them busy for a while? Maintaining a cd library which can be loaned out could be a function of the Factory also. The users could download the contents to their hardrive and return the canned library cd.  Staffing the Factory with local people would provide jobs to the local economies. Most locations could probably start to operate with as little investment as a single computer and one person to make copies (ie low capitol requirement). Busier locations would require more equipment but they would also cashflow the investment by the higher volume of business.

 

I know of a very inexpensive cd burning software that lets you run up to 7 burners on a PC. There is another company that has a similar feature (Nero I think) but they want hundreds of dollars for it last time I checked (about 5 years ago). I've run 3 burners with a 500mhz machine very successfully. Using a bigger PC with a bigger processor and a large memory bank would be the best setup. The cd burners have to be all the same type (manufacture, model etc). And the burners need to be supported by the burning software (some makes and models aren't supported by the software). Click Here to go to software manufacturer.

 

The demand for canning factory cds would depend on the number of computers in use in rural areas surrounding the canning factory location. In areas where Internet access is expensive the cost of producing a cd might be less than the cost to download it in a slow connection. What I mean is that in many areas there is a charge for an ISP but there is also a charge per minute of use of the phone. Depending on those prices it could be cheaper to buy the material on a cd rather than pay for the access time to download it. So it's possible the factory may be producing cds for areas that are actually connected to the internet or in areas that have internet available.

 

 

 

Not including the computer used to burn and the cost of Internet access, the only costs to start a factory is a cd burner at $25-30 and software ($20.00). Compared to the cost of running fiber optic all over Kenya I'd say that is one terrific bargain. Would you agree?

 

Personally, I think the canning factory should be owned and operated by locals. As mentioned, they can hire and oversee the staff

 

Costs can be offset by sale of cds.

 

The establishment of computers in rural areas would cause increased  demand for wired Internet. Built up demand would lower the risk for a ISP to start service in an area and they be more apt to do so in areas that already have a high number of users using the cds. Some of the canning factory users would migrate to the ISP. Re: Planning for growth of the canning factory we know demand for cds would slow as areas receive ISPs, The expectation is that it will be a long time before the continent is connected so we can expect the canning factory to be a long term operation.

To see an example of a similar concept, but on a larger scale than I am suggesting, visit http://www.widernet.org/