Simple, Stand-Alone Internet Communication Devices? 69
ashitaka asks: "One month ago my father-in-law died leaving his wife to live alone for the first time in her life. She lives in a somewhat rural part of Japan, north of Tokyo, in an area with few neighbors. My wife is her only daughter and we live in Canada; her only son is an engineer for Fujitsu and spends many days on the road. We know she misses our kids and we try to get over to Japan as much as possible, however more than once every year or two is a stretch." What ashitaka is looking for is a simple device that can be used for video conferencing or instant messaging, that can be controlled with a remote and administered remotely. Assuming something like this doesn't exist, what would it take to bend a PC to this task?
"Videophone technologies up to now have required knowledge of computer operation and Instant Messaging software or having to go through the complexities of setting up the traditional video conference. Here we are talking about a 76-year old Japanese granny who has never (and probably never will) touch anything more complex than the phone or the TV remote.
I'm looking for a device which can be administered remotely, has 6-8 large 'quick-dial' buttons and an emergency button which will try to connect through a list of contacts if required. It shouldn't look like a computer but should support connecting to whatever IM clients would be appropriate. It would be nice if it could turn on the TV when a particular Universal remote button or buttons were pressed to save Obaachan an extra step but I'm not sure if current signaling standards for TVs would support that."
I'm looking for a device which can be administered remotely, has 6-8 large 'quick-dial' buttons and an emergency button which will try to connect through a list of contacts if required. It shouldn't look like a computer but should support connecting to whatever IM clients would be appropriate. It would be nice if it could turn on the TV when a particular Universal remote button or buttons were pressed to save Obaachan an extra step but I'm not sure if current signaling standards for TVs would support that."
Administered remotely seems unlikely... (Score:3, Interesting)
Failing that, get ready to build your own from scratch.
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http://maemo.org/ [maemo.org] is the best resource I've foud so far.
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From scratch looks like the only option unless I can get an electronics maker interested. But I'm one of those that doesn't know how to go about doing that.
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It's a bit pricey for what you want to achieve, but it's a good all round solution - I'm sure she'll be happy with it if she tries it.
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However, she won't travel alone.
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1) The idea of her coming to your home more or less the best half a year (by your comment that would be on summer) is not to be disregarded. We did just this with my grandma for her last decade or so (while we got her in winter not in summer). If she's like my grandma, she will be hesistant at least on the beginning (she won't want to be an overload on you and she will feel more free on her own village, that she knows as she knows her friends, her shops, etc.) -of course, you
Packet8 (Score:3, Informative)
http://www.packet8.net/equipment/residential/vide
Dont have an answer but... (Score:3, Funny)
It should be possible to throw something together out of fairly standard parts. A PC running Linux, a web cam, a TV tuner and an IR remote control. But I can't see anything off the shelf doing this.
Gee. (Score:1)
XBox 360 (Score:2, Interesting)
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However, a shiny box like that sitting in Obaachan's house turned on all the time wouldn't go down too well.
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It is for this reason I don't try to correct anyone's grammar or spelling on the Internet. Glass houses, you know. But you saw fit to go even beyond that level of pedantry and stoop to insults.
Fittingly, you posted as Anonymous Coward. However, even ignoring that, your words say more than enough about your character.
Call me insensitive but..... (Score:1)
Simple device
Instant messaging (multiple protocols)
Video conferencing
Remote controlled
Remote admin
Preferably not PC-based/roll your own
Large buttons
Emergency facility (including multiple contact list)
Automatically turn on the TV
And when presented to a solution to most of this ridiculous list of requirements, YOU COMPLAIN BECAUSE IT WON'T LOOK NICE?!
or the Wii (Score:2)
That may not be enough, especially for emergencies (don't they have something like Life Alert in Japan for that?), but it may be a simple work around for non-phone communication.
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What is it about the console you find so appalling?
Pepper Pad (Score:1)
Video phone from D-Link (Score:2, Informative)
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A broadband connection would not be a problem. This is Japan where 100Mbps fiber connections are $40 a month and ADSL connections which would be enough for this without any construction work required are even less.
Huh? (Score:2)
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Obaachan has had a video tape player in her house for close to 15 years and has never, ever used it. My mother-in-law is
Grandkids fill the age gap (Score:2)
I set up a web cam and AIM for him and showed him how to start and stop the thing a couple times. Then I let my daughter talk him through the process once or twice and it stuck. They talk all the time.
M
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There is a cultural aspect at work here as well since although a lot of European and North American elderly people will take up the challenge to learn to use a computer elderly Japanese, especially in rural districts se
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There are cultural forces here too which, contrasted with those of your mother, may be interesting to talk about. My dad was a typical Irish American tough guy growing up, had no time for gadgets and used to blast me for spending so m
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It took my wife living at my in-laws house almost continuously for three months to convince Obaachan that it was time to end 60 years of washing clothes in a basin outside the house.
Mod Up (Score:2)
OLPC - OCPG (One Computer Per Granny)? (Score:4, Interesting)
Right now one of the biggest hurdles for Linux uptake is the critical mass problem. If you take all of the technologies loosely associated with Linux right now, there is probably plenty of critical mass for Linux to take off in a meaningful way. However, it's not really about Linux adoption, it's about vertical stacks of technologies in the Linux universe.
In short, we don't have "Linux" users. We have Linux + Gnome + Firefox + Debian system managment-isms. For programmers, it gets worse: We have Linux + GNU + X11 + Cairo + GTK + Python + Gnome APIs. Now, at each level imagine somewhere between one other and 50 other competing technologies.
If you don't believe me, feel free to respond to this post and tell me what the best development environment / language to write Linux desktop apps in is. Okay, now what's the best distribution? While we're at it, what's the best text editor? With that as a context, now tell me about UI guidelines and keychain standards.
It seems to me that, for better or worse, the OLPC project the potential to create a huge, gigantic mass of individuals with a more heterogenious understanding of what Linux "looks like" than has ever existed before.
Apple has differentiated itself by creating a cohesive environment. Apple users get angry when applications don't conform to specifications. If within the "Linux community" enough people could agree to write apps to a specification, Linux's popularity would rise and we'd see broader uptake.
Sugar could be that for a certain 90% demographic of Linux users. Imagine: A uniform display canvas, UI standards, consistent technology stack?
I don't even know that Sugar's technology doesn't suck, but at least it gives some architectural direction.
Anyway, lest some overzealous moderators accuse me of drifting dangerously off topic, I see a huge need for the sort of limited-purpose system that the original poster is looking for. My parents, my wife's parents and grandparents, (Myself?!) etc. I'm sure there are more than a handful of people here who wish they could set up a system that had some basics like video conferencing (to talk to the grandkids), web surfing, and... what else?
*The* killer feature would be having a big enough body of users that you knew patch management, upgrades, and hardware compatibility would be automatic. Maybe an OLPC with a bigger screen and keyboard for grandma's eyes and arthritic fingers would fit the bill?
-Peter
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There are a lot of manufacturers of embedded devices that run Linux, but their customers aren't confused about which distro to use. The maker picks a distro and makes it work on their platform, and that version gets shipped with the hardware. Sure, you can flash oth
Crazy Talk. Free Software is Easy. (Score:3, Insightful)
Freedom, not a lack of it is the answer to the problems you think you see.
If you don't believe me, feel free to respond to this post and tell me what the best development environment / language to write Linux desktop apps in is. Okay, now what's the best distribution? While we're at it, what's the best text editor? With that as a context, now tell me about UI guidelines and keychain standards.
I don't believe you because every useful program has been made to work with every distribution without a lot of
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The poster above has it right.
The problem isn't freedom or lack of freedom. If you're given a linux-based device with the ability to install software of your choice, you have your freedom.
What the parent wants is uniformity and proper user interface design. A singular target for support.
If you're of the minority who doesn't like that singular target, it's no problem. You can go take your hardware and compile your own distro. Nothing's going
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It's called a free market. Like most every other market on the planet. There's nothing stopping you or a new user making [shudder] choices for all of the things you mention. In all the things you mention there's only a limited number of mainstream choices.
Sure it's inefficient having multiple projects competing in slightly different ways. It's called capitalism. Maybe you'd prefer communism?
If you want a true standards mess forget about linux, just look at web technologies, particularly flash interface
Yet more crazy talk. (Score:2)
You suggestion is really an insult that makes no sense:
What the parent wants is uniformity and proper user interface design. ...you could have some 50 different linux VOIP phones and it wouldn't help if every single one of them have horrible UIs, right? Same thing applies to computers.
So really, what you are saying is that KDE, Gnome and friends all suck. That's fine, go find something you like. What you claim you want is:
A singular target for support.
This is a foolish and impossible goal. Even i
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The one that suits your needs best is the one for you. For me, it's vim, Perl, Gentoo, vim. For others it could be different. The point is that there is no best solution out there. I have a solution for my needs. For people with different needs, the solutions are differ
I am seeing Myth working here.... (Score:2)
As for remote administration, that is as simple as adding an SSH server, and possibly something like FreeNX/NoMachine or VNC (I recommend the former, as I seem to be able to do anything, including remote video) from it...
Not to mention, other than the hardware, i
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That sounds like a stock iMac (Score:5, Interesting)
--Tomas
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The remote administration ability is both so that we can resolve any problems but also to allow us the ability to turn on the camera if we cannot contact her by the usual means just in case.
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Found it! (Sort of) (Score:4, Informative)
Control is through a TV-remote control device so it's close perfect. I would have to see how well it could be remotely controlled from outside but I'm sure some hacking possibilities are there.
Now to get Obaachan a broadband connection and we're in business.
Thanks all!
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Since it uses fairly common standards for everything - video, audio, connection setup and control, they were even able to make operate with a number of different software packages, including some on Linux.
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Everything you want is free (Score:1)
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The software and carrier is not the problem, it is completely the hardware and user interface. It must be as non-threatening as a regular telephone.
I really did find almost exactly what I was looking for in the D-Link DVC-1100. As long as the receiving party has the same type of unit you can dial it with a regular telephone using the recipient's existing phone number. A proprietary directory service maps the telephone number to an endpoint IP address. For other H.323 co
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So, get the phone and on your way to baachan's place cruise Akihabara for a cheap used laptop.
Finishing the project will be left as an exercise to the reader.
Solutions are Out There (Score:2)
Now, obviously the resolution isn't great and you're at the mercy of signal... but I've already used a cellphone in Europe with a front-mounted camera to keep in touch with my family back in t
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Thanks for the heads up!
Illegal immigration... (Score:2)
heres my advice (Score:2)
install a linux distro you can admin remotely and that won't need to be upgraded to a new release too often. something like debian stable or one of the rhel rebuilds.
install a nice lightweight desktop and customise it to have easy links to the instant messaging and videoconfrencing apps, possibblly a web browser too. Set up all the software so it just works for her.
for emergency communication i think your better off sticking to the phone even if it is a little expensive, maybe get her a standalone V
What's the budget? (Score:2)
They also plug directly into a TV, or video projector, and can be set to "follow" noise.
They can also be rather extensively expensive, of course, but I've seen some on eBay for not too bad a price (up to the discretion of the buyer).
Here [polycom.com] is some stuff from their website. It doesn't seem to mention pric