My Simputer, which has been something I looked forward to since 2003, is now in my hands. It's been an arduous journey getting it. Jon "maddog" Hall supported me in this endeavour, even going so far as to email the people at Linux Journal in the hope that they would buy me one (back when I was editor of LinuxGazette.com). For some reason, this wasn't to be...Apparently Don Marti didn't like the idea. I have my thoughts and opinions, but I made a decision that I would have one, no matter the cost and decided what they thought really didn't matter. I've expressed belief in it, and I have put my money where my keyboard is.
It was a winding path, but I got there. More importantly, it got here! From getting the money to Amida to actually receiving it, it's been an interesting thing. When it was sent from Bangalore, India, it arrived one day after I left Panama. My friend, Willy Smith, was kind enough to send it to me here in Guyana. But with Hurricane Dennis and Hurricane Emily, it got stuck in Puerto Rico for a while. When I checked FedEx yesterday, it was in Trinidad and Tobago.
I was pleasantly surprised when, after returning from the vocational school, that the package had arrived - no duties, and no customs delay. I didn't even get out of the hospital's office with it, and I think I have Willy and Dawn Smith for some fudge brownie mix that appeared in the box. Either that, or there was a nice customs person somewhere along the line who thought I would like some fudge brownies. That sounds like a good project for this weekend as I play with the Simputer. Taran's Simputer.
The Simputer itself - as you can see in the picture - is rather compact. But the image on the screen is amazingly clear, and I'm glad that I paid a little extra to get the color screen. It adds a lot to it. Not in the picture is the USB to ethernet adapter, which I still have to play with. While playing with it in the administrative offices of the hospital, it got a lot of attention - one woman (Stacey) remarked that it's probably what I needed to be less frustrated. Some of the IT Staff crawled out of their safehaven to come and take a look at it, and were surprised that (1) It was from India, and (2) It is running Linux.
One comment: "Wow - I didn't know India could manufacture things like this!". And since I had not yet studied it, I was playing with it and learning how to use it in front of them - an amazingly simple interface. I accidentally started showing off the accelerometer with the Golgoli game - a game where you have to get three balls into the center by tilting the Simputer in different directions. That got a few oohs and ahhs, but I barely noticed as I was doing the same. Reading about it and using it are completely different things. Later on, I was to find playing Breakout the same way was difficult (though I did get to level 2!).
I finally did get back to my apartment, and as I entered Dr. Persaud called and invited me for dinner downstairs. So, I went downstairs and showed it off a bit - and while we talked a bit about it, the main discussion was about the medical record system. He's interested in Linux in an increasingly serious way. I didn't get to play with my Simputer too much there, but I did get a lot done in better understanding the hospital's needs when it came to Medical Records. As it happens, Dr. Persaud has been reading my weblog entries and giving me feedback in person - something which is beneficial all round, I think.
When I did get upstairs, I immediately got back to fun and business. The Simputer. Within half an hour, I used almost everything with the manual still in the box. It's amazingly simple to use. While I did beat the Simputer at Chess the first time, it played a good game - but the real winner here is Khatha. I'm still exploring what this could be used for on practical levels.
So, while I'm writing about my adventures here in Guyana - the Simputer has become one of these adventures. With the Simputer, I got the Software Development Kit from Amida (in the picture above), as well as three Mandrake 10 CDs - and a USB key as well. I'll be writing some things on it as I learn more about it, and as I push it to the limits - or it pushes me to mine. This little thing handles like a sports car so far.
Special thanks to Jon "maddog" Hall, Swami Manohar and the rest of the folks at Amida, and Willy Smith.
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