Designed by Consumers - Screenless Laptops

PC World - As part of Google's tenth anniversary last year, Google asked for ideas on how to change the world. A great many suggestions were submitted, including the one below from me. Although Google has chosen not to fund this suggestion, I wanted to share it here with PCWorld.com readers for what it's worth. Admittedly, it's counterintuitive to think that a laptop without a screen could be more useful than a laptop with a screen. But as I explain, for some people, that can indeed be the case.

Designed by Consumers--Screenless Laptops

What one sentence best describes your idea? (maximum 150 characters)

Low-income computer users can purchase laptops without screens by pooling their funds and prepurchasing the laptops.

Describe your idea in more depth. (maximum 300 words)

Low-income families could benefit from being able to buy laptops without any LCD screens. A laptop without an LCD can be a very useful portable solution when connected to CRT or fixed LCD monitors. Laptops without screens would also be a green solution, giving value to donated CRT monitors that would otherwise be heading for landfills. Portability means that this computer can be more easily maintained by volunteers, who don't always have the time to travel to people's homes.

To spur the development of laptops without screens, a nonprofit organization named Designed by Consumers could collect prepurchase payments for designated laptops, such as the Acer Aspire One. When 5000 or 10,000 such prepayments are collected, Acer would have a real incentive to consider selling a version of the Acer Aspire One without a screen for about $150.

This laptop would also have no batteries or speakers, further reducing weight and cost. A one-pound, virus-free "laptop" could allow a low-income person to get tech support or tech training at a public library, church, or community technology center and could expand the number of computers in use at such shared community spaces. Students could more easily carry such light laptops in their heavy bookbags.

The nonprofit organization named Designed by Consumers would pool funds from low-income people, and others who support them, to give low-income persons a stronger voice in technology product design decisions. The pooling of the funds would reward manufacturers who give greater thought to the needs of low-end consumers. Designed by Consumers would also accept anonymous donations from persons wanting to strengthen the public voice in design decisions. In some cases, Designed by Consumers would negotiate with manufacturers to remove (or include) features that would best benefit low-income consumers.

What problem or issue does your idea address? (maximum 150 words)

Low-income persons yearn to have a portable computing solution, yet cannot afford one. This limits their access to education, job opportunities, health information and a whole host of other benefits that portable computers give people--including the benefit of being able to get computer help from a friend or community volunteer--and pass along computer help to others. Also, great stress occurs in low-income families when students are required to share a computer when doing homework. An affordable portable computer would substantially reduce such emotional stress, and give students the ability to work in a quieter setting, such as a neighbor's apartment or house, if that is their only option for quiet study.