NetTop Without The Net

The government has this initiative called the “NetTop ng Bayan” which is an effort to increase the affordability of PCs. NetTops are a type of relatively low-power desktop computers designed for performing basic tasks such as surfing the Internet, accessing web-based applications and rich internet applications, document processing and audio/video playback etc. Like netbooks, you can already use office applications and even play some games though you can’t carry them around as conveniently.

But to unlock the full use of nettops, you should have an Internet connection (that’s why it has the word “net” in the first place :P). But, unfortunately, our subscription rates are quite expensive. Typically this would vary from P800 ($16) for a 384 Kbps connection to P3000 ($60) per month for a 3 Mbps connection. So in a year, a nettop with connection charges doesn’t look so affordable anymore.

In Japan, for $60 you can already get a 160 Mbps. That’s 50x the speed! We can only hope for those speeds and prices. Maybe there’s going to ba a “Net Connection ng Bayan” or something otherwise it’s just going to be “Top ng Bayan”.