The_Penguin
Well-known member
- Joined
- Dec 26, 2009
- Messages
- 808
- Reaction score
- 205
- Gender
- Undisclosed
- Political Leaning
- Slightly Conservative
Everyone knows about [ame=http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/OLPC]One Laptop Per Child[/ame], right? And that there are [ame=http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Satellite_phone]satellite phones[/ame], yes? And that there are [ame=http://www.amazon.com/American-Cross-FR400-Emergency-Radio/dp/B000EIBVKG]radios out there that can be recharged by spinning a little crank attached to the[/ame]?
How about combining the three? You create a small laptop that has a satellite connection for the net and one of the ways that you can recharge it is by spinning a little crank. It has, at least, a 56k connection. Then, you make millions of these suckers and, get this, you sell them (read: smuggle) in countries such as Iran, North Korea, China, Vietnam, Burma, Laos, Zimbabwe, etc.
They need to cost under $200 and will need some dedicated satellites for the job (cheap low-earth orbit ones that can be replaced relatively quickly.)
Anyone wanna engage in some speculating fun about what will happen to those nations? :devil:
North Korea:
Kim Il-Sung ****s himself in his grave and his son, after failing to remove these things from his country, pretty much gets run over in a <insert a recently unused color> revolution.
China:
The CCP sees that it has a problem on its hands and after a bunch of ineffective, but large-scale, attempts to snuff it out, breaks up and again we have a revolution.
Vietnam:
The government understands that its people have their own opinions about what they do, reads them and since they like US (yes really) and don't want to lose too much standing, give ground on some issues before dieing a slow death into oblivion.
Burma:
Read about NK.
Laos:
Read about China.
Zimbabwe:
Seeing that the people now have information about the outside world and a means to organize, the Mugabeast is forced into retreat. Opposition see their chance and stage a take over (might get a tad bloody at times) of the government. Some of the opposition will try to crown themselves as new kings, but this is unlikely at best.
Rest of the world:
In the eyes of the governments, America is yet another Satan. The people, on the other hand, like ability to view what they want, say what they want and organize how they see fit.
How about combining the three? You create a small laptop that has a satellite connection for the net and one of the ways that you can recharge it is by spinning a little crank. It has, at least, a 56k connection. Then, you make millions of these suckers and, get this, you sell them (read: smuggle) in countries such as Iran, North Korea, China, Vietnam, Burma, Laos, Zimbabwe, etc.
They need to cost under $200 and will need some dedicated satellites for the job (cheap low-earth orbit ones that can be replaced relatively quickly.)
Anyone wanna engage in some speculating fun about what will happen to those nations? :devil:
North Korea:
Kim Il-Sung ****s himself in his grave and his son, after failing to remove these things from his country, pretty much gets run over in a <insert a recently unused color> revolution.
China:
The CCP sees that it has a problem on its hands and after a bunch of ineffective, but large-scale, attempts to snuff it out, breaks up and again we have a revolution.
Vietnam:
The government understands that its people have their own opinions about what they do, reads them and since they like US (yes really) and don't want to lose too much standing, give ground on some issues before dieing a slow death into oblivion.
Burma:
Read about NK.
Laos:
Read about China.
Zimbabwe:
Seeing that the people now have information about the outside world and a means to organize, the Mugabeast is forced into retreat. Opposition see their chance and stage a take over (might get a tad bloody at times) of the government. Some of the opposition will try to crown themselves as new kings, but this is unlikely at best.
Rest of the world:
In the eyes of the governments, America is yet another Satan. The people, on the other hand, like ability to view what they want, say what they want and organize how they see fit.
