TECHTREE.COM -- IT FOR FREE

15 November , 2005
By Nycil George

Asiatotal.Net, a Hong Kong-based technology company, has launched iT, the world's first Free Computer. To be distributed among eligible low-income individuals and small businesses to enrich their lives, and to close the digital divide in the world at large, the functioning of the project will be made possible with the participation of sponsors and partners.

With the analysis that only 10 per cent of the world's population is connected to the internet, and 70 per cent of the world's internet users are from the 24 richest countries which account for only 16 per cent of the world's population, Project iT, a noble concept with a vision, was formed by a group of visionaries in 1998, "to provide, free-of-charge, the means for the less privileged to access the Internet, and thus to enhance and enrich their lives." This resulted in the formation of Asiatotal.net in 2001, to bring the concept to life. Project iT took six years to come to function.

iT is a compact, ultra-simple, portable desktop computer, complete with everything necessary to connect to the Internet, home entertainment devices, printer and a USB card reader. The iT package includes keyboard, mouse, a 7-inch LCD monitor with speaker, smart card reader, mouse pad and all necessary cables. According to the company, what makes iT so simple and appealing are the hotkeys, which, with one touch, take the user directly to their net destination, which means no need to hunt for, or type-in any long URL. Adding to the product s user-friendliness, is the smart card reader that allows the user to connect quickly and securely with any required service, for instance, their bank to make transactions. It has easy voice text and messages via windows messenger. It uses disc on module instead of hard drive, which is claimed to be more stable than a standard PC. It is also supposedly immune to virus.

The user can also connect iT to their TV monitor for larger text and images, to their sound system for superior sound, to their printer and to their USB card reader for reading the memory card of digital cameras, and many other USB peripherals.