This is Google's cache of http://www.teleread.org/2009/12/24/cherrypals-max-seybold-talks-africa/. It is a snapshot of the page as it appeared on Jan 18, 2010 19:10:51 GMT. The current page could have changed in the meantime. Learn more
Text-only version
These search terms are highlighted: cherrypal talks africa

# TeleRead: Bring the E-Books Home

News & views on e-books, libraries, publishing and related topics

- Home
- Free e-books
- Contact info and FAQs
  - 1992-2005 TeleRead info
- Advertise
- Share news tips
- Write for TeleRead!

December 24th, 2009

## Cherrypal’s Max Seybold talks ‘Africa’: $99 netbook no Kindle—but can run e-book software like FBReader

By Chris Meadows

People read e-books on a variety of devices: dedicated readers, PDAs, iPhones and iPod Touches, and computers. Until recently, the price of most netbooks has been about on a par with or slightly more than e-book reading devices—meaning that people who are only interested in e-books might have incentive to choose the e-ink-screened Kindle or Sony over an Eee or Aspire.

But what if a netbook was significantly cheaper than most dedicated readers?

Yesterday, and again briefly today, I had the chance to speak with Max Seybold, the Chairman of Cherrypal, about the $99 “Africa” netbook his company is offering (which I covered in detail here). He had a number of interesting things to say—both about the computer, and about Cherrypal’s future plans for it. It turns out that creating the Africa is only the beginning.

An Internet Appliance

Fundamentally, Seybold explained, the Africa is not being sold as a computer in the sense most people think of a computer. It is being sold more as an appliance that provides basic Internet access and functionality.

Seybold compared it to other appliances, such as a toaster or automotive GPS: when you buy a toaster, you do not care how it is wired or what parts are in it as long as it is fit for the purpose for which you bought it: toasting bread.

Likewise, most people do not care what operating system or CPU powers their GPS, as long as it gets them where they need to go. (And come to think of it, I could say the same for most dedicated e-book reader devices: we don’t judge them based on their operating system and architecture, but on how well we can read e-books on them.)

The Africa is not aimed at ordinary consumers, who can afford better systems, or at computer geeks who have specific requirements for what should be in their computers. It is meant for people on the bottom of the “digital divide”: those who need Internet access but literally cannot afford anything else.

Bridging the Digital Divide

Unlike the OLPC, the Africa is offered openly to people in the western world as well as the third world, at the same price level for both. Seybold explained:

> In terms of our overall approach, we want to be as open as possible. And as I elaborated in one of my earlier blogs, there are also a lot of people in the western world, like in the United States, supposedly fifty million people in the US, who would want a laptop but they cannot afford one.

> And a lot of government services, whether filing for unemployment or disability or other kind of things where you are strongly encouraged basically to use a computer, to do it via Internet. And, I mean, it’s not a luxury anymore to have access to the Internet, it’s a necessity.

> The goal was, really, to come up with something to make it available to everyone. One of our important company value messages is making green computing available. And there are more than enough people in US [who need this type of access].

> I got a lot of feedback from people in other well-developed countries in Europe, like from Italy, even from Germany, from the UK, from France, where basically resellers approached from rural area who said, “We want to enter into a relationship with you because in my neighborhood a lot of people cannot afford laptops for $500.”

> It’s not just in Africa or South America or Vietnam or Cambodia. The problem is also here in the US.

One of the lessons Cherrypal learned early on was that they needed to offer an alternative method of buying their computer, because many of the people in the extreme-low-income target market do not have credit or debit cards. Thus the Cherrypal store added the ability to accept Western Union money transfers.

Built or Rebranded?

One of the questions raised during the Slashdot discussion of my previous Cherrypal article was whether Cherrypal was actually assembling laptops from inexpensive parts, or simply rebranding wholesale lots of existing budget systems.

In response, Seybold explained that they will do both or either as necessary:

> The product we’re selling with the Africa is basically providing providing access to the Internet. That’s the only goal: providing a low-price computer that is able to access Internet. The most inexpensive way.

> So, the way we’re doing it—and of course $99 is a tough goal to reach, is basically we’re buying inexpensive but high-quality…they might be boards, they might be entire systems, they might be anything. As long as from a quality-assurance perspective it’s high quality and you can browse the Internet with it.

> All of the things you mentioned before, I don’t want to rule them out. If you buy five Africa, they might be all the same, they all might be slightly different, but they all have one thing in common: they’re high quality and you can browse internet with it.

> In other words, in order to get to the price, we reserve the right to assemble different components, rebrand existing systems if we get them for a cheap price…whatever helps basically to offer them for $100.

This does present some challenges in the manufacturing process.

> Basically we have a demand forecast and we manufacture as much as we need and pull all different batches together. Logistically, I agree, it’s a nightmare. But we are more than happy to go through that pain, if it means being of some kind of help for people in need.

Service and Support

Seybold said the Africas are user-serviceable to the same extent any other laptop is—they are not sealed, so users can open, upgrade, maintain, or repair them.

The Africas are sold with a 30-day money-back guarantee and a 1-year warranty. Cherrypal uses the “send it back” approach to support: if it breaks, return it and they will send a new one.

When I asked what measures Cherrypal was taking to avoid people trying to game the system—sending back their Africa and re-buying until they got one with better specs—Seybold said that had not been a problem so far, as the first batch had significantly exceeded the minimum specs.

> I’m pretty sure in the numbers game there will be people who will return it. There’s not much you can do about that. Our challenge going forward is to position it in a way that people can know what to expect.

“As Long as It’s Black”

And what to expect is a basic Internet appliance—no more, no less. Purchasers do not get any say in what kind of system they get for $99, except they can ask for Windows (which might be CE or XP, depending on what kind of system they are shipping) or Linux.

> Right now we get swamped with emails where people say, “I would like to have mine in Windows,” “I would like to have mine with Linux on it,” “I would like to have mine in green,” “I would like to have mine in blue.” Okay.

> So, the only thing we’re considering is saying let’s offer one in Windows and let’s offer one in Linux. But then we’re kind of concerned that we’re getting a lot of emails, again, from a few countries where they’re asking us,”What is Linux?” “What is windows?” “What is the better one?” “How do you distinguish, really?”

> We would very much like to keep the process simple. Again, the basic idea is that for ninety-nine bucks you can surf the Internet. Period. And we will have to decide whether we break it down into different sub-products or we keep it as it is. But the basic idea is for ninety-nine bucks you can surf the Internet.

> I could add: if you insist on a particular processor, buy a different product. If you insist on a particular color, buy another product. With Africa, you cannot choose anything but the feature that you are able to browse the Internet.

> It’s almost like with the T model Ford came out with 70, 80, 90? years ago: “Any color you want, as long as it’s black.” In our case, it’s “Any color you want, it’s going to be something in our best.” If you’re offended that it’s going to be in purple, I mean, it’s ninety-nine bucks.

Green Maraschino

It turns out that Green Maraschino is not the name of the Linux distribution Cherrypal uses, but rather the name of the “supercloud” project Cherrypal is creating for the Africa and other computers—such as the self-named Cherrypal “cloud computer” that Cherrypal first released last year.

> The goal is to come up with with a seamless operating environment where processor architecture, firmware, browser, plugins, cloud access, cloud security, cloud environment itself basically become an integrated A to Z so to speak cloud environment.

> The goal is to reduce processor requirements. If you reduce processor requirements, it takes up less energy but also improving access to cloud, making it more secure. That’s the goal of Green Maraschino.

Debian Linux; Windows CE or XP

The version of Linux optionally bundled with Africas turns out to be a version of Debian. Seybold confirmed that it will include command-line access, compilers, and all the usual tools that come with such a distro.

The version of Windows will be either Windows CE or Windows XP, depending on what the systems currently being sold will use. As Seybold said in his blog, you will get “at least” Windows CE, but there is no way to choose whether you will get XP. The only choice you can make is between Linux and Windows in general at the time you order.

But as Seybold said, the goal is not to sell a computer with a particular operating system. The goal is to get affordable Internet access into the hands of people who need it. Seybold was careful to emphasize this several times over the course of the interview:

> If you’re a real hard-core geek, so to speak, and you’re interested in every single detail, and you want to make a decision what every detail in the system ought to be, then the Africa is definitely the wrong choice. Again, the only product promise is that you are able to browse the Internet with it.

Third-World Projects

Since the Africa only started shipping this month, it is too early for success stories from the third-world projects using them. However, Seybold hopes to have photos, videos, and other details to share on his blog after the first of the year.

Seybold notes that Cherrypal has encouraged these projects to become resellers and to provide free Internet access to their communities. Having local resellers makes payment collection and shipping easier, but more importantly “we can trigger local business, and I think that’s very very positive. Not just in Africa. The same thing in some parts of Asia.”

Seybold adds, “Interestingly enough, we also got a lot of positive feedback from mainland China, although our site doesn’t work there.”

The Cherrypal Café

Creating this sub-$100 netbook is only the beginning of Cherrypal’s plans. When I spoke to Seybold today, he explained that shortly Cherrypal would soon announce the will be opening “Cherrypal Cafés” in the United States and other countries. (Shortly after the interview, Seybold wrote and posted a full explanation to his own blog.)

These will be Internet coffeehouses that will check out Cherrypals to patrons for in-shop use, and also serve as dealerships and repair/replacement centers for Africas, Bings, and any other models Cherrypal might make.

Seybold explained the cafés will be very much in keeping with the bare-bones, no-frills nature of the Africa.

> It’s going to look like, shall I say, a CostCo in small, rather a warehouse than something upscale. But there are a couple of core principles. One of them is that Internet access is free. It’s a café where people can go, they can check out a Cherrypal for free, they have free access to the Internet, and they can buy our coffee. And they can pick up a Cherrypal, whether it’s a Bing or Africa or whatever is coming, and pay for it and go home.

Though on the other hand, in his blog he writes

> We are going to apply strict quality standards to our franchisees, however, every Cherrypal Cafe will have a slightly different look and feel. Based on the rules of Feng Shui we will help operators to create their own store identity, making every visit an enjoyable experience. A Cherrypal Cafe in Manhattan might have an African theme, a Cherrypal Cafe in Nairobi might have an Asian theme, the world is ready to embrace and appreciate the diversity of many cultures. Am I wrong?

Internationally, Cherrypal will franchise these out, along with localized versions of the Cherrypal on-line store: web stores in the countries’ native languages, with orders fulfilled by the local partner. “This does not apply to the US at all; we will keep the store here. But we will have a lot of cafés.”

It is possible that even non-Cherrypal coffeehouses might have some interest in reselling or checking out $100 netbooks to their consumers. According to Seybold’s blog post, anyone who wishes to order at least 10 computers can get a reseller discount. He provides the email address open@cherrypal.com for further information.

Lessons to Learn

When I asked Seybold what lesson other groups and organizations could take from the Africa project, he replied:

> In all fairness, let me be humble. It’s too early; ask me in a year. I’m sure we will discover mistakes, and we’re willing to admit and adjust them. I think there will be some kind of positive outcome. But as always, it’s a journey, right?

> The only thing I would want to add is I really enjoy learning about the culture in different countries. And of course not everyone’s got an American or European business mindset. We have to adjust our expectations but we should very much try to become one global community, really. And the Internet is the perfect medium for that.

> But in terms of help, the kind of help we are trying to provide: good education goes a long way, in order to make a living, in order to become a part of the global society. I also think good education is the best peacekeeper in preventing wars, making people happy.

> But it’s too early to say what truly works, or what advice we can give to other organizations. We’re more than happy to share once we know more.

Suitability for E-books?

When I asked Seybold about the possibility of e-book-related software such as FBReader being included on the devices, he pointed out that their top priority is providing affordable Internet access in the greenest possible way and that is where they are focusing all their attention. For them to worry about adding this app or that app might be a distraction from that focus.

Of course, e-books apps such as FBReader are easy enough for users to install in Debian, or compile if need be—and the systems that run Windows CE or XP have even more choices than that. And a number of books can be read directly via the web. On the other hand, the e-book reader software selection for netbooks can be a bit limited, especially if the netbook in question runs Linux.

Regardless, the device’s suitability as an e-book reader will be one of the things I evaluate when I receive my review unit within 7 to 10 days. I will also be receiving a review unit of the Bing, Cherrypal’s 13” $349 Intel Atom-based notebook, that I will look at in the same way.

Many people find the multi-purpose iPod Touch to be a more useful e-book reader overall than the Kindle or Sony—it may have an LCD screen, but it is portable and can do much more than simply read books.

I believe the Africa may have the same sort of advantage. It may not be pocket-sized like the Touch, but it offers (at minimum) a 7” screen that is larger than many e-book readers’, a full-sized (for a netbook) keyboard, and an operating system that will let you do many other things.

And at $99, it is cheaper new than many used Palm PDAs, let alone iPod Touches or dedicated e-book readers. This means that consumers who might otherwise frown at reading e-books from a netbook screen might conclude it is “good enough” at that price.

But I will be looking at that in detail when my review units arrive.

Netbook as Internet Appliance: A Novel Idea

When Seybold explained that the Africa is meant to be an appliance used for accessing the Internet, I was intrigued. This was certainly a novel approach, treating the computer as a means for getting on-line, rather than an end in and of itself.

Of course, “Internet appliances” have been tried in the past, most notably in the 1990s. The idea behind them was that they were “made cheaper and much more usable [than full-sized computers] by narrowing [their] functionality and limiting available configuration options.”

By and large, most of them turned out to be glorified PDAs that cost almost as much as a low-end desktop computer but could not do nearly as much. (Some of them were rather bizarrely designed, too. Who could really use the Pepper Pad for anything other than light websurfing and game-play?)

But the Africa may very well be the first “Internet appliance” to mean the term fully literally: an appliance for using the Internet. Not the sort of look-but-don’t-touch access that past “Internet appliances” offered, but actually using it in the same sorts of ways you would from a desktop: a real computer at an appliance-level price.

Slashdot Skepticism

This may explain the skeptical nature of a lot of the posts from the Slashdot discussion thread of the other day. Computer geeks are used to thinking in terms of performance versus price, of exact specifications.

They are used to comparison shopping, too, to get the absolute most bang for their buck. (For example, one Slashdot commenter pointed me to this listing for a refurbished 7” Asus Eee for $109, which has several times the memory and flash storage space and double the processor speed of the baseline bare-minimum Africa specs.)

It is no wonder that some geek minds rebel at the idea of paying $99 for a pig in a poke that could be ARM, MIPS, or X86 and could have any possible specs at or greater than those listed. To the average computer fanatic, such a thing might be as unthinkable as going to the grocery store and buying a bag of “food” sight unseen. But as Max Seybold said, they aren’t the target market.

The target market simply wants a way onto the Internet, and wants to get it cheaply. They are not necessarily going to be willing, knowledgeable enough, or able to shop around for the “best performance”, and probably won’t be able to order from vendors that only take credit cards anyway.

Conclusion

As Seybold said, it is still too early to say how successful the $99 Cherrypal netbook program will be. But I don’t think it’s too big an exaggeration to say it has the potential to bring about a sea change in the way those below the “digital divide” relate to computers—not only in terms of what it does, but in inspiring others to follow suit.

Seybold is right in that many government services require web access. Many other services, such as banking or job-hunting, need it, too. The average person in the American part of Africa’s target market is currently limited to spending an hour at a time on public library terminals. Give him something he can use perpetually, and he will have the chance to do a lot more.

Perhaps even read some e-books.

Technorati Tags: Cherrypal,Africa,Max Seybold,e-books,e-readers,netbooks,poverty,digital divide,third world,Slashdot,Debian,Linux,cloud,cloud computing,supercloud,Green Maraschino,Windows,Windows CE,Windows XP,Henry Ford,Internet appliance,Internet,coffeehouse,Internet coffeehouse,cafe,café,OLPC
Digg us. Slashdot us. Facebook us. Twitter us. Share the news.

Posted in Cherrypal, Chris Meadows, FBReader, Internet Tablet, Linux, One Laptop Per Child, Windows Mobile, e-book technology, netbook, netbooks | Permanent link |

Email this • Subscribe to this feed • Digg This! • Share on Facebook

This entry was posted on Thursday, December 24th, 2009 at 10:20 pm and is filed under Cherrypal, Chris Meadows, FBReader, Internet Tablet, Linux, One Laptop Per Child, Windows Mobile, e-book technology, netbook, netbooks. . You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Also, please note that if you're commenting for the first time, your remarks will be held for moderation. If you still have problems, email TeleRead Co-Editor Paul Biba. Pinging is currently not allowed.

### 19 Responses to “Cherrypal’s Max Seybold talks ‘Africa’: $99 netbook no Kindle—but can run e-book software like FBReader”

1. cherrypalscepticism Says:
   December 26th, 2009 at 3:34 pm

   did you speak to the ceo in personal or via phone? did you ever see and personally “feel” such a cherrypal africa? why not? did you ask, where such a cherrypal africa has been reviews until today. the answers might be very easy

2. Chris Meadows Says:
   December 26th, 2009 at 9:46 pm

   I spoke to him over the phone and via Skype.

   And as I said, I am going to “see and personally ‘feel’” an Africa—and a Bing, too. He is sending me trial units of both. I expect to have them in my hands within a week or so.

   Now granted, I’m not paying him for them (unless and until I should decide I want to keep them) so I’m not out any money if he doesn’t. But I expect in a week or so to have the proof of their existence in person in front of me, and I’ll be taking unboxing videos and lots of photos.

3. Burt Henry Says:
   December 27th, 2009 at 6:15 pm

   I am impressed with the idea, and if memory can indeed be upgraded would buy one. I hope our man has distro options figured for Mexico…If we treated this like a war it could be done for less than $100, so I say “go for it, and good luck!”

4. Chris Meadows Says:
   December 27th, 2009 at 6:54 pm

   Well, Burt, there’s no way of knowing that. As mentioned in the article, though Seybold says they can be opened, maintained, and upgraded like any laptop, your only guarantee is that you can surf the Internet with it.

   You pays your money and you takes your chances. I’ll be sure and report on whether the one that I get can be upgraded, but even if it that may not necessarily be true for all of them.

   As for distro options in Mexico, they’re the same as for anywhere in the world: $99 + $19 shipping, plus whatever local tariffs, taxes, and fees apply.

5. cherrypalscepticism Says:
   December 28th, 2009 at 11:27 am

   ok, thank you for the answer. i will check you back in about 1-2 weeks and we will see, what happened (or not). thx.

6. Bryan Everly Says:
   December 29th, 2009 at 4:57 pm

   Hi,

   I placed an order on 12/22 and have yet to receive my unit. I got one email reply from Max when I asked about the status of my order. My credit card has been billed (same day I placed the order) but no communication. Their telephone number from the website rings with no answer.

   Any thoughts?

7. Kate Says:
   December 31st, 2009 at 4:44 pm

   Hi, I thought I’d leave a note here in case anyone’s looking for updates. I have spoken three times with Max Seybold, who has been very pleasant and apologetic about the glitches hindering the distribution of the first batch of orders. Here goes:

   1. The phone line keeps breaking — and was out entirely for the first week of the Africa launch — but when it’s working, Max picks up the phone right away and ready to help out. He’s really nice, but there’s nothing he can actually do to fix the issues with the shipping because …

   2. The distributor in Hong Kong bundled all the orders into one huge shipment without authorization to do so, so there was only one tracking number for all the laptops together as they made their way to Alaska. (This is why your order has never been updated from “Pending” status.)

   3. Once in Alaska, the units shipped out individually — with tracking numbers — but the list of tracking numbers is fairly useless to Cherrypal, because they don’t know which order number belongs to which package. Max seemed reasonably confident that the shipment was “on time,” which I’m inclined to disagree with only because of the New Year’s Day holiday and Sunday (no mail). That’ll slow things up a bit. But from my conversation with him, it seems reasonable to expect packages to arrive next week.

8. african watcher Says:
   January 2nd, 2010 at 4:22 am

   i suggest this webarticle: http://www.theregister.co.uk/2008/12/04/cheerypal_surfaces/

9. Chris Meadows Says:
   January 2nd, 2010 at 11:54 am

   That article refers to their original device, the Cherrypal desktop cloud computer. Still, it is good to remember they had the same kind of shipping problems in the past that they’re having now…and last time it was several months before people got what they’d ordered.

10. Edy Says:
    January 3rd, 2010 at 4:22 pm

    Has anyone recieved the africa yet?

11. Chris Meadows Says:
    January 3rd, 2010 at 7:24 pm

    Not yet. But as soon as I do, believe me I’ll be letting everybody know. I expect it before next Friday or Saturday.

12. lyzby Says:
    January 6th, 2010 at 6:02 pm

    Interesting website you mentioned with the 7″ eeePC for $109: http://www.memorylabs.net/aseerew90daa5.html

    Unfortunately, none of the 17 eeePC models they list are actually available for purchase, and their phone have not been answered all day.

    I’d be interested to see what “hands on” experience tells about the Africa.

13. Chris Meadows Says:
    January 6th, 2010 at 8:07 pm

    Well, my Africa has been delayed; it will probably be at least two weeks before I get it. But I’ve just spoken to Max again, and will shortly be writing up what he had to say.

14. Sergiu Partenie Says:
    January 7th, 2010 at 9:30 am

    Chris, next time you talk to Max, please ask him to send an update e-mail to everyone who ordered one. One of my friends already panicked and canceled his order.
    I ordered two Africas and i really want to get them, but i’m growing impatient too – my order is still “Pending”. If Max were to tell us (or at least post on the cherrypal website) that it takes another 3 weeks to get them – it would be okay. And everybody will be happy if they arrive in just two weeks.
    Thanks a lot !

15. african watcher Says:
    January 7th, 2010 at 4:18 pm

    @chris: would you tell world-audience, what Max told 2 you?

    Waiting….

16. Jack Fuller Says:
    January 7th, 2010 at 4:42 pm

    I made an initial order on 15 Dec 2009, which was later canceled by Cherrypal, due to problems with the ordering system. As others have noticed, a charge was immediately made to my credit card, via PayPal.

    After receiving an e-mail from Max S. describing the ordering problems, I ordered a second Africa Linux, and paid via Google Checkout. As other have also noted, such orders were canceled even before a charge was made to a credit card.

    CherryPal’s Open Store still shows both orders pending.

    On 4 Jan 2010 I did receive a credit card refund of the charge made for the 1st order.

    So now I am clear as regards the charges made for the Africa. But I’m a bit leery about ordering again — especially as it appears that no one has actually received an Africa.

17. Chris Meadows Says:
    January 7th, 2010 at 5:01 pm

    @African Watcher, I did indeed “tell world-audience” what Max told me; just click on “cherrypal” in the “posted in” categories at the end of the article above and it is (currently) the first article. The one where I suggest caution may be advisable. In fact, if you search “Cherrypal” on Twitter right now you can find my tweet and several peoples’ retweets of the URL.

    @Jack, that may be wise of you. All that waiting will cost if you do decide to order is a few extra days of waiting (and will help spread out the demand a little). Conversely, one person emailed me that he was going ahead and reordering with Paypal out of curiosity, since he would get the benefit of Paypal’s buyer protections.

    But that’s entirely your choice, and God knows I’m not trying to push people into ordering. I retain some enthusiasm for the concept, though I’m gradually becoming disillusioned with the company.

    Nonetheless, based on some of the comments others have made and stories of similar shipping problems a year ago, I still maintain Cherrypal’s problem is that it bit off more than it could chew, not that it is trying to defraud anybody.

18. Jack Fuller Says:
    January 7th, 2010 at 7:32 pm

    Chris, thank you!

19. geoff Says:
    January 8th, 2010 at 6:18 pm

    Well I placed and order for two Tiger units on 12/22. My order, to this point, has been showing as Pending on their site. I finally sent them a email asking for a status update and received a reply from Max stating that they were inundated with orders in December and had a total breakdown in their order tracking system. He said that they would be issuing me a refund and asked me to re-place my order. When I went to do so, the only option for payment now is ‘Western Union’. I asked about this, and Max replied that credit card processing would to be available for a week or so. So that’s been my experience with the company so far.

### Leave a Reply

Name (required)

Mail (will not be published) (required)

Website

Notify me of followup comments via e-mail

Subscribe without commenting
E-Mail: