I have gust read a very intersting article writen by Jason Lee Miller, and I would like to share it with you "Just when you thought Google couldn't get any more jaw-dropping with its latest explorations, you realize with a sudden and exasperated "omigod" that this is bigger...much bigger than we imagined. Google, NASA, and MIT are going to change the world...again. It was titillating enough to think of the seemingly inevitable GoogleNet, an ad-supported wireless network that would transform the Internet into a broadcast-style medium like radio or television. The scope of that, in the immediate future anyway, was hedged by US borders (or North American borders perhaps). Then, Google hires the exalted Father of the Internet, CEO Eric Schmidt gets over his CNet freeze out, decides to move in with NASA, and is a sponsor of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology's massively philanthropic ambition to put $100 drop-it-in-the-mud-if- you-want, hand crank powered laptops into the hands of the poorest children of the globe in countries like Brazil, Cambodia, Thailand, China, Egypt, and South Africa. And you're all, "huh?" Be careful to avoid anyone that may pat you on the back, your face could freeze that way. Eric Schmidt says, "Google and NASA share a common desire-to bring a universe of information to people around the world." So after sifting through a string of recent mega-announcements, your mind...it gradually gets there...yes...oh...my-God. The whole world. But how? Loren Baker at Search Engine Journal dutifully points out that in Brazil, Internet access, after an initial $130 sting for a modem, runs at about $50 a month-a considerable expense in a country where the average income is between $220 to $330 per month. At the first once over, you wonder what good it does to hand a kid a laptop if she can't afford Internet access. But Baker realizes that Google has to have some master plan in conjunction with this project. "With rumors of the GoogleNet and Google Wi-fi in the works and their latest partnership with NASA, I highly expect Google to announce some sort of global wi-fi or satellite based Internet connection for the world's poor to be announced once this One Laptop per Child program becomes a reality, which it hopefully will. Funded, by Google AdWords," writes Baker. We knew we were witnessing history. We may not have known to what extent history was being made." Do you think this is possible?
It's no secret Google has been snapping up tons of fiber around the world ([search=google]google dark fiber[/search]). I would guess they will do something with that that before taking a stab at blanketing the world with wireless connectivity from space (I think it would be cool though). In the mean time, I'll be happy when Google has fiber to every door and they want to give me a 100Mbit up/down connection for $50/month.
I would definitely sell my soul to Google if they do something like this and make it available in South Africa. Our country has one of the highest Internet cost in the world.
Amen to that, brother This is rather cool, but is it just me, or is the big G slowly taking over the world?
OK, so Google is going to recoup the huge investment this would take, plus all of the ongoing operating costs by giving laptops to people with no money in third-world countries and showing them Adwords ads? I'm all for expanding Internet access to people, but as an Adwords advertiser, I'm pretty sure that I don't want to be paying a couple dollars each time someone who has no means to buy anything that I'm selling clicks on one of my ads. Am I the only one who doesn't get this?
I don't think they will have people "clicking on ads" just to be able to make use of the service. It will basically be run as normal, and if something interest you, you will click on the ads. Third world countries might not have the infrastructure for widely used broadband internet, but by no means are everyone poor. If they can increase the reach and affordability of providing internet access to people those some people will, instead of paying $50 - $200 for Internet access, use that money to buy things they really need.
The article used Brazil as an example -- giving away laptops and Internet access to people who make have an income of less than $300 a month. A great idea, but it's not something that can or should be paid for by Adwords advertising. If these folks are interested in something and click on an ad, it's simply a losing proposition for advertisers - people who make $300 a month can't really afford to buy any products or services sold on the Web.
My comment was in reference to the free Wi-Fi/Internet connection. Makes perfect business sense to me, if they can cover their costs from the increased use of their services.
Google may be trying to make itself into the next "utility" company. Just think 10 years from now everyone is still paying for their utilities: electricity gas google-connect phone Who wouldn't want to be a utility like that?