Liam Proven ([info]lproven) wrote,
@ 2009-11-11 14:21:00
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Current mood:Exhausted

Today, I have been mostly... launching a new PC in the national media
I must be brief, for now, alas, but in case anyone is interested, my project for the last 6mth or so was launched today at the Institute of Directors.

It is the SimplicITy Computer, a new, inexpensive, radically simple PC powered by Linux, aimed at older computer novices who want to get on the Internet.

There's been a fair bit of media coverage so far...

BBC:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/technology/8352606.stm

Interview with a haggard, rumpled & very sleep-deprived yours truly:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/technology/8353468.stm

BBC Tech blog:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/technology/2009/11/computing_for_the_elderly_patr.html

PC Advisor:
http://www.pcadvisor.co.uk/news/index.cfm?RSS&NewsID=3206090

PC Pro:
http://www.pcpro.co.uk/news/353227/simplified-pc-targets-reluctant-silver-surfers

Do please let me know if you spot any more mentions!

The company website is
http://www.simplicitycomputers.co.uk/


(37 comments) - (Post a new comment)


[info]dougs
2009-11-11 02:39 pm UTC (link)
Just this second mentioned on BBC Radio 2.

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[info]lproven
2009-11-11 02:50 pm UTC (link)
I believe we've been on quite a lot. It's great coverage - we couldn't /pay/ for such exposure even if we had a million-pound budget, which we very definitely do not! 8-)

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[info]sigisgrim
2009-11-11 02:49 pm UTC (link)
Is there any thought of producing it as a laptop?

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[info]lproven
2009-11-11 02:52 pm UTC (link)
Definitely - there has been a lot of interest in this.

Snag is, for our target market, we want a big screen and a big clear keyboard - and such laptops are typically high-powered machines, thus very expensive, they run hot, are very heavy, etc.

We do plan one, but we will need to have a custom machine designed & built. So I am hoping that sales of the desktops will fund the R&D!

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[info]akicif
2009-11-11 05:22 pm UTC (link)
Very much big screen and big clear keyboard.

We're looking at this for [info]tigermoth's Dad - who currently has a not-exactly-brilliant machine her sister found on ebay for him. On the other hand, he lives on Iona, so not UK mainland (it's two ferry journeys from Oban), and I'm not sure if the tentacles of broadband reach that far either.

Is the Linux distro likely to be available separately?

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[info]lproven
2009-11-11 09:13 pm UTC (link)
The distro already /is/ available separately:

http://www.linuxmint.com/

It's pretty good - it's Ubuntu with some of the weird or bumpy bits smoothed out and looking, well, less brown. Personally I *like* brown and it's a strong visual identity for Ubuntu, but alas, a significant proportion of the human race have not really advanced much mentally since age 4 and when they see brown they think "POO!"

Eldy is available separately too...
http:///www.eldy.eu/
... but with the best will in the world, I can't currently recommend trying it in English. The translation is more than a bit ropey in places. We've completely retranslated the entire app/suite/thing. It's very good in Italian, though!

What we are currently invesigating is a service where for a fee we will take an existing PC (of a certain minimum spec), wipe it, put Linux Mint and our build of Eldy on it, set it all up, test it and return it to you... But this will cost, as basically, our current revenue model is based around selling hardware.

It's taken nearly all year to get this thing ready and out there, and all of us have done all the work gratis. None of us have made a penny and we're all out of pocket, some a little, some very significantly. So I'm sorry, but just yet, we need the dosh!

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[info]akicif
2009-11-12 10:12 am UTC (link)
Of course you do!

What I was thinking was that having a machine at home running the same distro would be useful for the inevitable support calls....

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[info]akicif
2009-11-13 10:06 am UTC (link)
The thing I meant to ask about earlier, but forgot to: I see you've got a nice big monitor included, but an option of an accessible keyboard (assuming anyone even makes one) would be really, incredibly, wonderfully useful: I'm thinking folk like my F-i-L who never learned to touchtype and so don't lose by having keys a little further away from the 'home' position than a competent typist would like, but don't have the manual dexterity they once did and so could really use bigger keys?

[In other news: now at phase two: persuading people that the expense of moving from dial-up for email to broadband is actually affordable]

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[info]lproven
2009-11-13 04:53 pm UTC (link)
Yes, we have a big accessible keyboard. Choice of them, in fact. Now looking for big accessible mice, actually. Suggestions welcome!

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[info]akicif
2009-11-13 04:57 pm UTC (link)
There was a guy on the course I was on in the States last year who had a mouse that looked like a cross between a small steam iron and a large model battleship: it was almost as high as it was long, with buttons on the side....

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[info]reddragdiva
2009-11-14 11:31 pm UTC (link)
Single-button trackball.

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[info]lproven
2009-11-15 01:30 pm UTC (link)
OK, now find me one that is, ideally, <£20... :¬)

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[info]lproven
2009-11-13 05:00 pm UTC (link)
P.S. Actually these days, broadband is cheaper than dialup unless you're a /very/ light user. We have a special deal with Eclipse but also if someone has a contract mobile, that can be a /very/ cheap way. I pay £10/mth for 16Mb/s but the cheapest offering is £5/mth for 8Mb.

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[info]reddragdiva
2009-11-14 11:30 pm UTC (link)
Yeah. You're not really selling a product, you're selling a service. More labour-intensive and less bucks, but hey.

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[info]andrewducker
2009-11-11 04:05 pm UTC (link)
Good job there.

About 8 years ago I bought an Amstrad Emailer in the hopes that it would allow my grandmother to use email to keep in contact with her grandchildren. Sadly it was shit and hit by a lot of spam (despite never publicising the email address). A massive shame. I hope this system is more successful!

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[info]lproven
2009-11-11 09:15 pm UTC (link)
The emailer was a lovely idea, but terribly executed. Shame that Amstrad never managed to follow up on the success of the original PCW, which was a brilliant bit of kit.

Thanks for the good wishes!

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[info]akicif
2009-11-13 04:58 pm UTC (link)
I think Alan Sugar's emulation of Sirclive went just a little too far, sometimes.

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[info]major_clanger
2009-11-11 04:57 pm UTC (link)
I've been very impressed with the amount of coverage I've seen. Although there was one friend on my twitter feed who proclaimed herself slightly miffed at the thought she might need a simple computer...

(But then I knew a chap who was in his mid-fifties when the MK14 came out. He assembled one, used it to control his home-built radio telescope, then decided it had too many shortcomings so built an enhanced version from scratch.)

Edited at 2009-11-11 04:58 pm UTC

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[info]lproven
2009-11-11 09:20 pm UTC (link)
I am pretty stunned by how much press we've got myself!

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[info]jon_a_five
2009-11-11 05:03 pm UTC (link)
I saw it on BBC News 24 and a longer version on Working Lunch today.

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[info]lproven
2009-11-11 09:15 pm UTC (link)
Excellent stuff. :-)

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[info]humanoid27
2009-11-11 05:19 pm UTC (link)
sonuds excellent! Paul (my boss here at work) said that one of his friends mentioned this to him at work today- apparently val singleton is involved? so some seniors here in ilkley know about it already.

i'll watch this more closely (and with sound) when i get home shortly.

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Mentioned on ZDNet US
(Anonymous)
2009-11-11 06:03 pm UTC (link)
Linux to your grandma this Christmas: http://blogs.zdnet.com/open-source/?p=5243

(Reply to this) (Parent)(Thread)
Re: Mentioned on ZDNet US
[info]lproven
2009-11-11 09:19 pm UTC (link)
Yeah, I'm not very happy about that piece, nor the B/S here:
http://www.twitter.com/scolvey

I will compose a proper reply to him when I have the time and energy. So far this week I have slept <5h and eaten about 1.5 meals a day...

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Re: Mentioned on ZDNet US
[info]akicif
2009-11-13 10:08 am UTC (link)
He seems to have looked at Eldy's own site, and from what you said above, you guys have better localisation in your version of Eldy - I suspect most folk will Get That.

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[info]lproven
2009-11-11 09:16 pm UTC (link)
Yes indeed, Val is the spokeswoman for the whole project, introduces and narrates the video tutorial course we've bundled on the PC and is also one of the founders of www.discount-age.co.uk, the company behind the Simplicity Computer project.

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[info]vicarage
2009-11-11 06:11 pm UTC (link)
Good effort, but I still think my parents are safe!

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[info]lproven
2009-11-11 09:18 pm UTC (link)
I reckon if they have the hand/eye coordination and the patience to master using the mouse, they can use this. Of course, whether you want your mum following you on LJ or Facebook is an entirely different question...!

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[info]vicarage
2009-11-11 09:34 pm UTC (link)
Watch it, they only live in Orpington, and I'll give them your address. Then you'll be sorry!

Seriously, I think the terminology is just too alien, given their ages, 80 and 87, and no exposure during their working lives. Whenever I'm asked to explain the tv and video remotes, I sigh, because menu navigation is just confusing, and the sripted approach then adopt writing key presses on the backs of envelopes is just not robust enough to cope with the vagaries of these systems. They've also no interest in the subject, and almost nothing they'd want. My brother and I can easily satisfy their rare queries, all their investments, bills and friends can be handled by post and telephone.

My 83 yo aunt, who lives down here in Exeter, mastered it, but I still dread those technical support calls, because she just doesn't listen.

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[info]turbine2
2009-11-12 08:49 am UTC (link)
Caught it on the news last night and I thought the entire concept and plan was fantastic. It's an area of the market that I think ISPs will start to target more and more as larger numbers of the population are already taken up.
Just out of interest, I appreciate it would probably bring in more cost, but has the idea of a touch screen been lookd at? The reason I ask is that when I've been dealing with the older generation that issue with the syncronisation between mouse and pointer has been a stumbling block.
Keep up the good work.

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[info]molly_brown
2009-11-11 06:29 pm UTC (link)
I saw this on the BBC news. I had no idea it was yours! Well done.

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[info]lproven
2009-11-11 09:17 pm UTC (link)
Thanks!

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[info]ladytg
2009-11-12 08:02 am UTC (link)
Congratulations it's been in the news around here several times yesterday (soff the BBC and such it's been on the local radio - could you want for more?!)

Looks interesting, we're tempted to get my great aunt on one if she's interested.

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[info]ladytg
2009-11-14 04:03 pm UTC (link)
Question. Seeing as how the only old people I remember are Uncle Nolley and your mother...

Has your mother had a go on this yet?
If she masters it can you let me know please. I am guessing that if someone as stubborn as her can master it my great aunt will get on just fine. I can't see my aunt appreciating "tech calls" ending with
a) my driving to Cheltenham to hit the one key I've been asking her to hit
b) the computer being taken off her and a pen and paper set up installed instead.

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[info]lproven
2009-11-14 05:49 pm UTC (link)
Good questions - and thanks for the positive comments!

No, I've not got one for my mum yet, but it is very high on the list. Snag is, she is too far away to use as a product tester - I can't afford to keep flying to & from the Isle of Man! Damned shame, she would indeed be the perfect candidate for it. She could not fathom Windows 95, Windows 98 or MacOS 9, all of them set to the simplest easiest possible configs. But she's learned to do text messages... so I think she might manage a Simplicity! :¬)

I certainly /hope/ so, anyway!

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(Reply from suspended user)
Re: Term Papers
[info]liam_on_linux
2009-12-14 08:47 am UTC (link)
WTF?

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