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Technology March 25,=20 2008, 12:49PM EST

Joocing the Next Billion Internet Users

Paris startup Jooce has an idea: Instead of one laptop = per child,=20 why not many virtual desktops per public computer? It's catching on=20

by Jennif= er L.=20 Schenker

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It's a conundrum that the best and brightest of the tech industry = haven't yet=20 solved: how to get computers to the "next billion" customers in = developing=20 countries.

The highest-profile effort to date, called One Laptop Per Child, has = run into=20 a series=20 of setbacks (BusinessWeek.com, 3/5/08). Spearheaded by digital guru = Nicholas=20 Negroponte, the U.N.-supported program envisions equipping millions of = children=20 in Africa, Asia, and Latin America with innovative $100 laptops. But = demand for=20 the devices has been lower than expected, in part because they still = cost nearly=20 twice their intended price.

Some people suggest perhaps the solution isn't to put hardware into = the hands=20 of every person, but rather to maximize the number of people who can use = each=20 PC. That's the idea behind Paris startup Jooce (the name is a play on = "juice,"=20 as in electricity), which has devised a novel software system that lets = many=20 people use a single machine as though it were theirs alone.

Whether in an Internet caf=C3=A9 or village kiosk, a PC equipped with = Jooce=20 software gives each person who logs in a customized = environment=E2=80=94complete with=20 programs, preferences, bookmarks, buddy lists, and so forth. That way, = even=20 though many people may use the machine each day, it feels "personal" to = each=20 one. Jooce also lets subscribers securely store online an unlimited = number of=20 documents, photos, videos, and other data=E2=80=94as well as giving them = the ability to=20 share those files easily with other Jooce users.

Enormous Potential Market

Jooce's remarkable plan is to offer this capability for free. = Revenues will=20 be derived from targeted ads that will appear on Jooce screens. Though = the=20 company won't reveal the names of specific advertisers, it says soccer = clubs,=20 consumer-products companies, and even movie studios already have = expressed=20 interest in reaching likely clients. There are an estimated 500 million = people=20 around the world who access the Internet every day, but don't = own=E2=80=94and can't=20 afford=E2=80=94their own PCs.

That's an enormous opportunity. Taken together, only about 1 million = low-cost=20 computers have been sold into the developing world via Negroponte's OLPC = initiative and rival schemes such as the Classmate PC from Intel (INTC) and = the Eee from=20 Taiwan's Asus,=20 reckons industry analyst Roger Kay, founder of consultancy Endpoint=20 Technologies. That means "=E2=80=A699% of the market is unpenetrated, so = if somebody=20 figures out a way to do this it should take off like a shot," Kay says. =

Jooce is the brainchild of three young entrepreneurs who met while = working on=20 digital-divide policy at the Paris office of the International Chamber = of=20 Commerce. American Chief Executive Stefan Surzycki is a 33-year-old = Indiana=20 native who started programming computers at the age of 7. He and = co-founders=20 Bryce Corbett, an Australian, and Aleks Stojanoski, from Macedonia, all = were=20 struck by the ease and power of Web-based software tools such as = Hotmail,=20 photo-sharing services, and online storage. Yet they felt online = programs alone=20 weren't enough to bridge the digital divide.

People in developing countries, they figured, also needed a software=20 interface that let them create and manage their online identities. Along = with=20 six other programmers, Surzycki got to work on the technology behind = Jooce and=20 managed to raise an undisclosed amount of funding from Luxembourg-based = venture=20 capital firm Mangrove=20 Capital Partners, one of the original backers of Skype (EBAY). =

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Joocing the Next Billion Internet Users

Paris startup Jooce has an idea: Instead of one laptop = per child,=20 why not many virtual desktops per public computer? It's catching on=20

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