The INFO Project Blog

HIFA2015′s PDAs-for-development discussion continues with a energetic post from a Malaysian medical professor about generating power for your laptop via your morning workout.

Dear Sina,

The advantage of *mobilephones* lies in their present population penetration which is substantial. Also the general population may not appreciate switching from more portable to less portable devices. In all probability the future mobile phone shall develop present day laptop functionality (PDA etc are approximations that are inching closer). Once that happens (and the present day basic mobile phone is phased out) it may effectively bridge the digital divide between the present day mobile savvy but computer illiterate have nots and the computer literate haves.

I agree on the power consumption front and perhaps the need is acute for devices that can be charged by human muscle power (as in the OLPC laptops that may be charged on hand crank or even pedalling). http://wiki.laptop.org/go/Battery_and_power

I would need to momentarily shift the focus from rural to an urban office scenario with overworked executives, slumped on their desks, staring bleary eyed into their computers. A human muscle powered computer could change this scenario into a dynamic environment where people work and charge their computers on a connected tread mill (the present tread mill monitor is more like a PC monitor that one could work with even while exercising…only needs a keyboard).

This could reverse the trend of computers eating our health in the office to computer readmills promoting exercise right at the office. Present treadmills work on electricity and shamefully consume power while providing exercise. This could be effectively reversed utilizing human muscle power to run the treadmill, charge the computers and provide exercise at the same time. Sounds simplistic but could work.

rakesh

HIFA2015 profile: Rakesh Biswas is Associate professor, Department of Medicine, Melaka-Manipal Medical College, Melaka, Malaysia. He is a physician academic trying to merge two worlds, the developing and developed in his day to day practice. He has worked in India, Nepal and Malaysia. His interests include Medical problem solving, education and evidence based telemedicine.
http://www.manipal.edu/melaka/departments/departments.htm

Smartphones versus PDAs: Same Difference?

Dear Leela,

Thanks for your comments. Technically PDAs and Smartphone are the same in size but probably “smarter” as the name implies. Tha main difference is the latter has phone capability incorporated into it. Anyway, the line between the two is getting blurred now. But, I think the time has come to shift attention to low-cost laptops with multi-wireless capabilities and with low-power consumption. The OLPC has blazed this trail and the big boys are joining in. I will predict that in the next five years this will be going for $100-$150, the cost for some smartphones or PDAs now.

It is good that this issue is coming to the fore. A discussion will be coming on the HIFA2015 network soon. This will be focussed on mobile/wireless ICTs for supporting health workers in developing countries. Any news on the UHIN [*] Phase 3 report yet?

Sina

HIFA2015 profile: Adesina Iluyemi is a dentist by profession with Masters
degree and postgraduate Royal College of Surgeons, England diploma in
Dental Public Health. He is presently a PhD candidate at the Centre for
Healthcare Modelling and Informatics, University of Portsmouth, UK
studying Mobile Health Information System (Telehealth) in developing
countries context and focussing on the use of mobile technologies to
support community health workers. He is also interested in the use of
mobile technologies for the management of chronic disease patients
especially HIV/AIDS.