14 DAY TRIAL // The universal serial bus technology may not be present on systems from several decades ago, but it is there on most computers you're likely to find still operational. A team of inventors are betting on it.
The team of inventors we're talking about is the one that invented the Keepod, a USB flash drive that has a standardized, bootable OS on it.
The Keepod team say their creation is the first standardized version of a bootable OS completely separated from the hardware.
Now before you cry fowl and say that you've seen Windows 7 or whatever else boot from a USB flash drive before, keep in mind that Windows doesn't run off the flash drive.
It still has to copy some files to the PC, and the system requirements aren't exactly the lightest out there.
By contrast, Keepod works with any old machine, so long as there is 1 GB of RAM available, an x86 processor, and a display with a resolution of 1024 x 768 pixels.
Also, the USB ports must meet USB 2.0 standard specifications or better, so USB 1.1 ports won't work.
If you have all that, a Linux-based operating system will open, and it even has some pre-installed apps like VLC media player, Filezilla FTP, Steam, the LibreOffice productivity suite, etc.
It doesn't even matter what USB stick you have, so long as it possesses at least 8 GB capacity.
Keepod was made for the many people who can't afford a full PC of their own, let alone a high-end one. Specifically, the 500,000 residents of Mathare, a slum in Nairobi Kenya.
There, basic sanitation doesn't exist and there is no school system, or even an adequate water supply. Most of the locals are part of the digitally excluded majority of mankind (5 billion), and that's made all the worse by the lack of a school system (which means only 10% of the locals actually reach college).
Having a small stick that can boot on any old, forgotten PC could be a great boon to those who do want to learn more than their condition would otherwise allow.
