One consequence of rapid advances in computer technology is the obsolescence of hundreds of millions of computers each year. This paper explores strategies for increasing the reuse of outdated computers through an investigation of an 8-bit home computer that is still popular in developing countries. We observed the use of the computers in 16 households in Ahmedabad and Bangalore, India in order to gain insight into the contextual factors that support the continued popularity of the device. While most computers become obsolete in less than a decade, this 30-year-old computer technology remains useful because it provides exciting, multi-user family entertainment. While having minimal processing power and virtually no connectivity, the 8-bit computer supports input and output channels that are especially suited for co-located social game play. In contrast, PCs are primarily designed for individual use. Therefore, we offer low-cost design recommendations that would enable outdated PCs to support greater shared use and increased utility within the constrained material context of low-income households. These simple interventions, if adopted by computer refurbishment industries, have the potential to significantly extend the useful lifespan of PCs.

One of the greatest challenges in designing applications for economically poor communities is that potential users may have little or no education. We investigated how limited education appears to impact the ability to navigate a hierarchical UI, even when it has no text. We scored 60 participants from low-income communities in India using tests of textual literacy and Raven's Progressive Matrices. These were used as proxies for educational level and a subset of cognitive abilities. We then evaluated participants' performance on a UI task involving hierarchical navigation. First, our results confirm that textual literacy is correlated with scores on the Raven's test. In addition, we found that performance on both instruments are predictive of performance in navigating UI hierarchies, even when the UI is text-free. This provides statistically significant confirmation of previous anecdotal hypotheses. We conclude with design recommendations for UI hierarchies for people with limited education.

We present narratives around the use of Access Technology (AT) by 176 people with vision impairments in Peru, Jordan, and India. Respondents note changes in their economic and social aspirations following access to AT, but experience multiple forms of exclusion from the public sphere due to persistent negative social attitudes disability. We argue that building theoretical frames that examine the nature of marginality is an important direction for ICTD to better understand ways in which individuals appropriate technologies, and use them to change their social environment they exist in.

This is a qualitative study into the workforce participation of computer-based assistive technology users in Bangalore, India. We conduct a systematic examination of respondents' discussions on their workplace experiences, aspirations, social inclusion, future concerns, institutional perceptions, and technology use. We present results on six resulting themes: The evolution of aspiration post AT access, the economic engineering of AT users, Underemployment, Peer effects in employment choice, Perceptions of the state, and finally telecommuting and social inclusion. The participants' responses highlighted here present a rich narrative of the transition from training to the desk, given that many here are the first or only employees who are visually-impaired in their workplaces. These voices of the first generation of assistive technology users in India offer useful insights into the design of policies and services for visually-impaired populations, and a more accessible public sphere in the future.

Computer centers in rural Indian public schools raise questions about the value of expensive modern technology in starkly poor environments. Arguments for or against spending on computers in low-income schools have appeared in policy circles, academia, teacher conferences, and philanthropic discussions, with passionate rhetoric from all sides. One shortcoming of the debate has been the absent voice of parents and children themselves. We present the results of a qualitative study of computer-aided learning centers in four districts of rural Karnataka, South India, where we discussed with parents issues such as aspirations, quality of schooling, and the perception of computers more generally. The research reveals a range of voices on hopes for the next generation, perceived value of computer courses and higher education, and views on the arrival of computers into their village schools. It emerges that in the minds of many parents, the computer has an immense symbolic value - separate from its functional value - that is tied to social and economic ascendancy. We find that this symbolic value derives from associations that parents imbibe from their various interactions with people using computers in a range of situations. Despite a large number of parents not entirely clear on what a computer does, the sense of mystical quality about technology is a feature we find across the board. In discussions with rural parents, we find an environment of great fear about the future of agriculture, because of which computer-aided learning centers have become a symbol of future aspirations of jobs for their children. The research also reveals varied related concerns of parents from the dowry implications of having computer-trained daughters to the relative value of English versus computer literacy as the key to social mobility.