The next big thing in tech: The desktop computer (yes, really) 下一個科技大趨勢：桌上型電腦（對，你沒聽錯）
You will see
plenty of smartphones in the developing world and you'll see plenty of TVs; but
you're unlikely to see desktop computers in remote areas.
你將會發展中世界看到許多的智慧型手機，你也將會看到許多電視，但在遙遠的地區很少會看到桌上型電腦。
Poor internet connectivity, uncertain power supply and a
simple lack of money have meant that billions have been locked out of the
knowledge economy.
很爛的網路訊號、不穩定的電力和經濟狀況，代表著數十億人被擋在知識經濟的門外。
Matt Dalio, CEO of Endless Computers, wants to change all
of that with the first simplified, robust and affordable desktop aimed at
emerging market consumers.
Endless Computers的執行長Matt Dalio想要用最簡易、耐用且人們可以負擔的價格的桌上型電腦瞄準新興市場的的客戶，改變目前的現狀。
Dalio told CNN he got the idea to create a $169 computer
while he was traveling and noticed that, while most homes did not have a
desktop computer, they often had an HD screen.
Dalio告訴CNN他是在旅行的時候想到製造169元美金電腦這個點子的，另外他提到，大部份的人家裡沒有桌上型電腦，但當中有些人的家中會有高畫質螢幕。
"It was one of those micro-epiphanies," he said.
"I was in India and I looked over at a television and then I looked at my
hand and there was a phone in it and I thought why not connect the two?
他說：「這是那些微小的頓悟之一。我在印度時，我放眼望去是一台電視接著又看看我手中的電話，我就想，為何不將兩個連結在一起？」
"While smartphones may be sweeping
through emerging markets, a computer is still the thing that you and I sit down
to every day to access the knowledge economy," he said. "The only
difference between a smartphone and a computer is the monitor, the keyboard,
the mouse and the operating system."
他表示：「當智慧型手機橫掃整個新興市場時，電腦還是一項你我每天坐下，用來接觸知識經濟的工具，智慧型手機和電腦唯一的不同點就是螢幕、鍵盤、滑鼠和作業系統。」
Reinventing the wheel多此一舉
Despite the
best efforts to bring affordable technology to the developing world, from radios powered by clockwork to water pumps with
few moving part, designing new systems from scratch is like reinventing the
wheel.
從發條式無線電到用少數零件製成的抽水機，儘管儘了最大的努力，為發展中的世界帶來人們可以負擔得起的科技產品，從頭開始設計系統就像是在重新發明輪子一樣多此一舉。
And like most
designs for new wheels, they often end up being round.
而且就如同那些新產品的設計一樣，通常都會離原型相差不遠。
"If I'd
known then what I know now," Dalio said of the three-year journey to
develop possibly the world's most pared back desktop.
Dalio談到他在發展可能是世界上最簡化的電腦那三年時表示：「如果我那時就知道我現在懂的…」
"Initially
I thought we're going to take Android, put it on a smartphone processor and how
hard could it be?" he said. "And when we went into hardware how hard
could that be? We're basically taking an off-the-shelf board and slapping two
pieces of plastic around it.
他說：「最初我們要使用安卓系統，想著只是把一個智慧型手機的處理器裝上去有什麼困難的？然後我們進入硬體階段也不認為那會有多難，而我們基本上只是拿現成的主機板然後幾兩塊塑膠裝在一起。」
"The real
challenge we found was that no existing operating system worked."
「最真實的挑戰是我們發現沒有一個現存的作業系統行得通。」
Software
a hard problem to solve軟體是個難解的問題
Windows, he said,
was too expensive and doesn't run on cheap processors, Android is fundamentally
a mobile system, Chrome requires connectivity, and Linux is too hard to use.
Ｗindows系統，他表示，太貴而且也無法再便宜的處理器上使用，安卓系統最初就是一個行動系統，Chrome系統需要無線聯網技術，而Linux太難用。
"We
realized we had to build an operating system, but ignorance is a powerful
tool."
「我們意識到我們必須要自己建一個作業系統，不過是無知是個很強大的工具。」
After
searching for the right development team (Endless eventually came up with a
Linux-based operating system equipped with a new and easier-to-use interface)
and launching a Kickstarter campaign that raised more than its $100,000 target
in record time, Endless plans to go on sale in Mexico in May.
在找尋合適的研發團隊，並在發起Kickstarter的募資活動且在破紀錄的時間內募資超過目標十萬美金後（Endless最終作出了以Linux為基礎搭配簡易且好用的作業系統），Endless計劃五月要在墨西哥開始發售。
Equipped with
app-based software and hardware that can cope with an uncertain power supply,
Endless comes in a 32G and 500GB version both powered by 2GB of RAM.
配備能夠應付不穩定的電力且是以應用程式為基礎的軟體和硬體，Endless推出2GB RAM的32GB和500GB兩個版本。
The idea is to
effectively encapsulate the internet for consumers beyond the range of the net.
Each unit comes pre-loaded with a full encyclopedia, recipes, educational
lectures and health information.
概念是要有效地將網路濃縮、傳遞，給收不到網路區域的消費者，每台電腦都已經安裝完整的百科全書、食譜、教育課程和健康資訊。
"The
single most popular application is Wikipedia," he said. "We are
planning on adding software with a focus on farming; in many places people are
cash poor but that doesn't mean they don't have assets.
他說：「最熱們的應用程式是維基百科，我們正在計劃加入以耕作資訊為主的軟體，在許多地方，人們只是沒有現金但這不代表他們沒有資產。」
"When a
cow, for instance, gets sick it's a real problem. That cow's health can
sometimes be more important than their own child's because the fortune of the
whole family rests on that cow.
「舉裡來說，牛生病了（對人們來說）才是真正的問題，牛的健康有時候比他們自己小孩的健康還要來得更重要，因為整個家庭的財產都寄託那隻牛上。」
"Information
is so powerful ... what we want to do is to fill this product with the
information that's relevant to their lives," Dalio said. "No one in
San Francisco is building a how-to-manage-your-cattle app, that's for
sure."
Dalio說：「資訊非常的強大，我們想要做的事將這個產品裝滿與他們生活有關的知識，可以確定的是，在舊金山不會有人想要研發一個『如何管理你的牛群』的應用程式。」
Computer
access for billions?十億人都能擁有電腦？
With an estimated 5 billion
people without access to computers, Endless say the potential for their
computers is enormous and, while it may not be the cheapest on the market,
Dalio says it is the best that money can buy.
估計有50億人沒有電腦，Endless表示他們電腦的潛力是很大的，Dalio表示（這個產品）或許不是在市面上最便宜的，但是是可以用錢買的到的最好的。
Consumers in the developing
world, he says, are no different to consumers anywhere else in the world and
want something functional but also slick.
他說，在發展中世界的消費者和世界其他地方的消費者沒有什麼不同，都會想要實用同時又容易上手的東西。
"People are like you and I,
they want the best that they can afford," he said. "They want
something unique and beautiful and exciting and different.
他說：「人們都像是你和我一樣，想要自己經濟能力能承擔的範圍內買到最好的東西，他們想要獨特、美麗、讓人興奮、與眾不同的東西。」
"People here in the West
will say they want a flat top on their desktops so they can stack their books
on top of it, it's just a commodity, but there it's an object of art, of
luxury, of pride.
「在西方世界的人們會說他們的桌上型電腦頂端要做平的，這樣他們才能夠將書疊在上面，它只是一項商品，但它也是有藝術、奢華和自尊心的東西。」
"They want the round top
that we produce specifically so their kids can't stack their books on top of
it."
「他們會想要我們特別製作圓頂的電腦，這樣他們小孩才不能把他們的書放在上面。」
原文網址：http://edition.cnn.com/2015/05/04/tech/mci-endless-computer-desktop-pc-emerging-markets/
