[kictanet] My Take: Affordable computers

Sat Aug 29 09:17:12 EAT 2009

Used cars? Used computers? Used clothes? Why are they there? Affordability? Need?

Japanese used cars shine on Kenyan roads though they maybe 7 years old. 

Back to the discussion, when Bill donates his old computer from his office to someone else, the issue is still the same - he is trying to extend the use of the computer as much as possible which is a good thing to do. But it is important to think the subsequent end of life and how the computer will be disposed. e-waste.

As for Moore's Law, it may be a prediction (not scientific) trying to explain growth of chip density but how can it explain the P1 and P2 still in use in some Kenyan schools?

Whether used or new we face the one problem: at the end of life of these computers, fridges, TVs, radios, Mobile phones, what happens? There is need to for effective legislation on e-waste to take care of our locally generated e-waste and the one’s we imagine as dumping.

A good example of e-waste challenge is India where only 28.3%of the total waste generated in 2007 was available for recycling. A recent study by "Indian Waste Management Services Market" (Frost and Sullivan, 2008) estimates the Indian E-waste management market for 2008 to be INR 510 million (about Kenya shillings 710 Million). It is also said in India that a vast majority of recycler are not registered meaning the amount involved could be much higher.

KICTANET did a survey courtesy Muriithi, Waema et al that indicated we generate roughly 3,000 tonnes of our own e-waste. The question we should be asking is where does this go?
Kenya needs to be more engaged through legislations and internalize Basel Convention on Trans-boundary Movement of Hazardous Waste. Waste of electrical and electronic equipment (WEEE) legislation would ensure that there is no dumping of worthless computers and electrical equipment.

So my view is that we need to not close the door on used computers but should ensure there is no dumping through legislation and at same time ensure that the minimum specifications of computers we receive are high. To this end Computer Aid has done a good job.

Leonard

--- On Sat, 8/29/09, Gakuru Alex <alexgakuru.lists at gmail.com> wrote:

From: Gakuru Alex <alexgakuru.lists at gmail.com>
Subject: Re: [kictanet] My Take: Affordable computers
To: mleonardo at yahoo.com
Cc: kictanet at lists.kictanet.or.ke
Date: Saturday, August 29, 2009, 5:51 AM

Bill,

I have a problem with generic 'demonising' of all second-hand/used computers.

My question is? when you sold your last "as-good as new" computer or
device did you then not commit the grave e-dumping crime as defined by
some here?

If all are reading this and *all* their past emails ever from brand
new computing devices they are excused.

Would the "short version" of the problem solution be that *everyone*
supports large, rich, local or foreign computer vendors to grow their
enterprises because they are "environmental friendly" - all else
notwithstanding? Just a question....

Alex

On Fri, Aug 28, 2009 at 11:26 AM, Bildad Kagai<billkagai at gmail.com> wrote:
>
> On Aug 28, 2009, at 8:12 AM, Victor Gathara wrote:
>
>  I am thinking here of donations of used computers that can
> make their way into the country through a regulated and monitored
> channel (such as ComputerAid) who will also have responsibility to
> ensure EOL disposal according to WEEE standards to prevent dumping of
> electronic waste.
>
> Victor,
> In your position, you know very well that these second had computers are not donations. You can ask Tony Roberts how much he is paid to dispose a computer from Barclays in UK, that eventually finds its way to a school in Mau. And the Mau school pays for shipping and other costs....but besides all these politics......DFID
> might consider to fund a specific study comparing the final 'landed' cost of
> a dumped computer versus a 'clone' assembled with new parts at Crescent
> Technologies or JKUAT taking into consideration the kazi kwa vijana
> created....if it has not been done already. PS. I am speaking as a
> 'contributor' to this mess here, because I also have problems disposing my
> old computers and printers in the office. Most of the times, its easier to
> take them to a school in shags that cannot afford the electricity bills of
> running them...and... just live with the guilt like everyone else despite
> being labeled as The Hero who brought us computers.
> One reason IBM sold its hardware unit was because Moores Law states over
> time, the cost of hardware approaches zero and the cost of power consumption
> and capacity of the hardware doubles every 18 months.  Thus, bringing 5 year
> old computers to Kenya only drains too much power when we should strive to
> bring consumption per watt down. At least, just based on power consumption
> alone, dumped computer should never see the 'light of day' at the Kenyan
> port if locally assembled computers will consume half of the wattage
> today....especially now when everyone is striving to go green.
> http://www.codinghorror.com/blog/archives/000868.html
> Google, for example, has watched its energy consumption almost double during
> the past three generations of upgrades to its sprawling computing
> infrastructure. It recently unveiled a major new datacenter site in a remote
> part of Oregon, where power costs are a fraction of those at Google's home
> base in Silicon Valley. But cheap power may not be enough. Last year, Google
> engineer Luiz Andr� Barroso predicted that energy costs would dwarf
> equipment costs -- "possibly by a large margin" -- if power-hungry
> datacenters didn't mend their ways. Barroso went on to warn that
> datacenters' growing appetite for power "could have serious consequences for
> the overall affordability of computing, not to mention the overall health of
> the planet."
>

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