Brit ‘UK Digital Champion’ and Lastminute.com co-founder Martha Lane Fox is promising super cheap computers to entice the remaining nine million Britons to get their non-digital asses online.
The initiative is part of the Race Online 2012 campaign, which has tasked itself with getting every last Brit online by the end of the current parliament in 2015 (although we very hope much that more of this kind of thing will see them disappear rather quicker).
Price matters
“Motivation and inspiration are still two of the biggest barriers [to using the internet], but clearly perception of price is another big deal for people,” Lane Fox told the Financial Times. “A good price point is certainly part of what helps people get online.”
“We have an opportunity here in the UK to make sure we are achieving internet skills and usage as high as TV usage,” she continued.
“We should be using our old computers and refurbishing them to close the gap in this country.”
Refurbs for the masses
The machines – refurbs from charities and job centres sourced by Remploy – will be Linux-based systems including a flat-screen monitor, mouse, telephone support and warranty, and come with a mobile dongle priced at £3-£9 a month.
[Via]
Hmm. Quite an interesting idea. Derby Uni has thrown shed loads of perfectly good PCs in skips since I’ve been there. There are obviously issues with data and software licences that have led them to do that, so anything that gets around that barrier is welcomed.