Comments on: An African telecom embraces off-grid batteries http://gigaom.com/2012/06/03/an-african-telecom-moves-off-grid-batteries/ Wed, 19 Jun 2013 17:56:36 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.com/ By: Futurebooks http://gigaom.com/2012/06/03/an-african-telecom-moves-off-grid-batteries/#comment-848139 Tue, 05 Jun 2012 07:21:54 +0000 http://gigaom.com/?p=528188#comment-848139 The casing and plugs and neat. However, I believe the crank method of charging is not an elegant solution. The XO one laptop per child, were laptops targeted at school children in Africa and other remotes parts of the world. They were later shipped with a crank to recharge the battery cell, and failed dismally.

I think it is dangerous to move product development forward on one hand, and backwards on another level.

Telcos have been embracing lead acid off-grid batteries for decades. However they have been shipped with solar panels – a much better use of the consumers time.

There is a misconception that those living in remote areas have lots of time on their hands. The reality could not be further from the truth. Those working in harsh conditions are most often time poor and have less leisure time than populations from developed countries. They are more in need of real solutions – not novel ones.

]]> By: confused http://gigaom.com/2012/06/03/an-african-telecom-moves-off-grid-batteries/#comment-847799 Mon, 04 Jun 2012 14:32:40 +0000 http://gigaom.com/?p=528188#comment-847799 umm…more expensive then solar? This is not an energy source, it’s energy storage. It replaces the common use of car batteries (you did read this, right?)

]]> By: Munyuki Manatsa http://gigaom.com/2012/06/03/an-african-telecom-moves-off-grid-batteries/#comment-847627 Mon, 04 Jun 2012 05:31:51 +0000 http://gigaom.com/?p=528188#comment-847627 It’s a good product but the pricing is expensive combared to solar energy

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