Minimum hardware requirements
As much as a I love Hive and how it gives a voice to anyone there is a problem. You have to have access to the internet to use it. Now that may not seem like a big deal to most people and certainly not to those people who are regularly using Hive. However, the poorest of people around the world also have a story to tell. Arguably their story needs to be told and isn't because of lack of access.
Part of my dream for the #earnspendgive community is to enable others to be able to join into the chat. To use Hive as a place to share ideas and maybe make some money at the same time. However, while I'd love to put a nice computer in the hands of anyone interested that just isn't going to happen. After engaging with the crew in Nigeria I've learned that $1000 HBD for a nice computer is simply well out of reach for many Nigerians. Simply earning enough to eat a good meal every day is a challenge.
So, those people who would benefit the most from a $1 HBD curation reward are the ones who would have the most trouble getting online.
In that light I went searching for the absolute cheapest was to get online to use Hive. I set the bar at $40 HBD as the most I would pay for a device which was the price of the Amazon Fire 8 tablet (on sale). While the Priton tablet being cheaper and the cellphone and chromecast being closer to $30HBD.
Here is the lineup
Fire 8 (mislabelled at Kindle, sorry)
The Amazon fire tablet was really cheap on sale. It was also surprisingly good for the cheap price. I have a suspicion that Amazon discount the price to get more people to use their infrastructure. Indeed, out of the box it didn't surf the web, didn't load the Ecency app, and generally wouldn't be useful for Hive.
Except you can sideload apps. At its core the Fire tablet is an android device. It just has that fact carefully hidden. But with a few changes of settings and a few .apk download files and I have the Brave browser running nicely and Ecency ready to do posting!
Pair that with a bluetooth keyboard and mouse purchased from aliexpress / temu for less than $10 HBD and I'm all set to make some posts. As a side benefit the video quality is pretty good as is the sound quality. Sure it isn't great but it is OK.
The first keyboard / mouse I bought was more then $10, the next batch was slightly cheaper
Pritom 7" tablet
Now the Pritom tablet is an android tablet. It does have playstore and also happily loaded the Brave browser (for PeakD) and the Ecency app. It also paired nicely with the keyboard and mouse so I could happily post on Hive. It was easier to get setup and a few dollars cheaper. However, the screen wasn't as sharp or as large. The sound quality wasn't as good. The camera was much worse and the battery life wasn't as good as I hoped.
But it did work to get me on Hive on a shoestring budget! Overall if I needed a device and only had this tablet it would work to get me online and making some money on Hive. In that way it passed!
2" Servo cellphone
How much would you trust a $28.83 cellphone....with free shipping?
Probably not very much. However I was very pleasantly surprised.
Was I able to load ecency? Yes. Was I able to post on Hive. Yes.
Was it a pain with such a small screen -- Yes.
Honestly though it was a fun Little phone. It watches youtube videos. The alarm clock works well. It lets me play my workout tape every morning for my Actifit. It works fine as a cellphone for calls and texts. The screen is actually quite responsive and far better than I had hoped for!
But the screen is so small. It is fun but also ridiculous. It doesn't take long for someone to really wish they had a better screen. Now it DOES say that it will cast to a larger screen but I tried with both Miracast and Chromecast. Miracast was useless and Chromecast only allowed music to be sent.
It DID work with a bluetooth keyboard, mouse, and speaker and while doing so it was really quite fun.
Battery life was pretty bad (tiny battery) but then again it also charged up to full in no time.
It only uses 3G cellular data which for most people would be a huge turoff. However after hearing how much my Nigerian friends lament new phones using up data so quickly...well, this phone wouldn't burn through your data very quickly at all. Possibly a plus for someone on a tight budget.
Was I able to make a post with this phone? Yes. Was I able to use the camera to add images to my post? Yes. Were those images better than the Pritom tablet? Also yes. Is the tiny screen a bummer. Also a yes.
Still for less then $30? I could post on Hive and use Actifit (something the tablets can't do as they don't have a SIM card)>
Chromecast with Google TV
Now I also tried one other device:
(Image from Bestbuy.ca)
And that $39.99 is Canadian so $29.14 HBD/USD
Overall the same price as a teeny tiny cellphone.
Now unlike the other devices this one does not have a screen which is a huge drag. It doesn't have a battery and it doesn't have access to cellular data. Overall it might seem fairly useless to access Hive. However, lets look a little closer.
There it is sitting on the desk along with its remote control, keyboard and mouse (the pink ones were the ones under $10). Now hook it up to an actual decent sized screen (anything with HDMI will work) and now look at it.
Google doesn't want you to think it is actually a full android device (same as with the Fire 8) but it does a very good job of playing video's and audio. That's its whole purpose after all.
If you do a little digging though you can add a web browser and it will connect to a keyboard and mouse. So here is what it looks like running PeakD...
In a setup like this you have full access to PeakD in all its glory to make your posts and comments. With a keyboard and mouse it feels very similar to using an actual computer. Sure its a little slow but not terrible. For a device that costs less than $30 ($40 with keyboard and mouse) it means an acceptable way to get onto the Hive ecosystem.
Sure you had to hook it up to a screen to see what you are working on. That's a bit of a drag. However, it hooks up quickly AND is easily removable. You can take your data along with you and the device remembers your settings for the next time you hook up...even if its to a different screen.
None of these devices were prefect
Of course at the end of the day none of these devices were perfect. They all had to make big cuts in order to hit such a low price point.
However, all of these devices were able to get me onto hive and allow me to make posts.
A phone under $30 could get me on hive and actifit while still allowing me to make calls and texts. I would listen to spotify, watch youtube, and generally have a working phone. Amazing. Just not great for old fat fingers and eyes that don't focus on small stuff so well anymore.
The tablets were so much better than I expected for such a low price tag. I remember the old days with android "donut" and the original android tablets. They used to costs hundreds of dollars for a junky interface. Now even the cheapest of tablets are actually useable (if not great).
I also had an original Chromecast which was very lackluster. The new version though? I was really impressed. Surfing the internet on a big screen TV with a sub $30 device hooked up to keyboard and mouse? I've used full computers that gave a less satisfying result!
Now I personally have a nice new 2 in 1 laptop which would blow any of those budget systems away. A nice device will outperform budget devices on so many levels.
However, for those who have nothing even the least expensive devices can give them a voice and I think that's something very hopeful.
Anyone care to give some feedback?
Mostly I'm reaching out to @jjmusa2004 @rare-gem and @monica-ene for their thoughts? Someday (hopefully) I'd like to work with you to setup a Hive Hangout in your city where people can come and enjoy all Hive has to offer. Maybe even making some money with their posts :)
What do you think?
Make screens available so people could hook up their Chromecast to post?
Make internet available so people could use their tablets to post?
Make cheap phones available so even the poorest of people could have a device to document their struggles?
Or just give it all up as a terrible idea and move on to something else 😁
And a quick shoutout to @dlmmqb
,,, as a tech based guy in Pakistan what are your thoughts on making inexpensive devices to people so they can access Hive? Also as a tech based guy can you think of any good ways to access Hive that I might have missed? I was thinking Raspberry PI or something similar but think the Chromecast works just as well.
Thanks everyone for gets this far in the post.
I would love to get feedback
(and 50GLD to any good responses 😉)