With all that is going on in the world today, I have to admit I am downright scared of what might happen soon. From the horrible Political Landscape here in the USA to the aggression being shown by Russia and China.
It has me thinking, a lot, about what would Humanity Need to survive/rebuild if WWIII or some other Apocalyptic Event were to happen. Resources, materials, shelter, etc. are all on that list, however, the biggest thing on the list is KNOWLEDGE!
What do I mean by Knowledge? Well, things like:
- How to purify water
- What plants are edible? What plants can be used for medicines?
- How to repair vehicles
- How to build a shelter
- How to grow food
- How to hunt, fish, forage
- History, science, chemistry, mathematics, etc teaching to teach the next generation
- How to make: plastic, fuel, etc.
- How to preserve and store foods
- Maps (that work without GPS or Internet) with Satellite Images and more!
- Construction, Engineering, Electrical, Solar How-To Guides/Videos
You would also need Entertainment, to keep your mind engaged!
- Books, books, and more books!
- Games that don't require Internet
- Arts and Craft Projects
- Woodworking
Thinking about this got me scouring the internet for a Doomsday Computer (Cyberdeck) that could run off batteries/solar panels and store all the Knowledge/Entertainment that would be needed if the SHTF! While there are dozens of such devices out there for sale they are all way underpowered, contain way too little information, and do not have solar power or redundancy. They also lack any form of communication built in. Most of them have a paultry 100 gigs or so of data but in my preliminary evaluations I quickly found 1000's of gigs of information that would be needed.
I am currently setting up my old laptop as such a device. For evaluation and data collection purposes instead of 128 GB storage like the Doomsday Computers (Cyberdecks), I have 5000 GB storage and will likely fill all of it. That is 40 times more data/knowledge/entertainment than the other Doomsday Computers (Cyberdecks) I have found on the internet for sale.
I plan to design/build a portable, ruggedized, weatherproof Doomsday Computer that has the following features:
- Has internal batteries to power the device for several days with no input power
- Has fast enough hardware to be usable by multiple people simultaneously
- Generates its own Wireless Hotspot so other people with a smartphone, tablet, or laptop can connect to it and Download any information they want/need
- Has a portable solar panel (folding 100 watts) to recharge the internal batteries
- Has all the knowledge humanity would need to rebuild society and prosper
- Has a wealth of entertainment like books, videos, games that can be used on the device or most other devices
- Has a built-in weather station to test air quality, barometric pressure, temperature, and much more
- Can be easily transported by foot, bike, boat, vehicle or plane
- Has built-in redundancy should data get corrupted it can be easily and quickly repaired
- A built-in power bank to charge your cellphone, laptop, tablet, flashlights, etc.
- Multi-language translation of text or voice
I have already started making a list of the hardware I would need to build this Doomsday Computer (Cyberdeck) and am placing the items I find on a special Amazon Wishlist so that I can acquire them as I have the funds. I have also, as earlier stated, have already begun collecting the data/knowledge/entertainment that will eventually find its way into these Doomsday Computers.
Much less capable devices sell for anywhere from $300-1500 online and contain 1/40th of the information my Doomsday Computer (Cyberdeck) will contain. I am posting this to judge the market and see how many people might be interested in such a device. Especially since it will have real-world uses now as well, such as:
- Access to information/entertainment in remote areas where there is no cellphone/internet/reliable electricity
- Power source to charge your devices if the power goes out for an extended period or while traveling
I plan on designing/building two different models:
- Model A - Internet in a Box Cyberdeck - will have everything listed above (and probably more) and will retail for under $1000.
- Model B - Doomsday Cyberdeck and Communication Station - will have everything the Internet in a Box Cyberdeck has as well as a full Communications Transceiver with Ham, CB, LSB, USB, AM/FM channels, and a built-in antenna. It will also have larger internal batteries and a larger built-in power bank. There will be optional add-ons for it as well such as larger portable solar arrays, and larger external radio antennas for mounting on fixed structures or vehicles, It will retail for under $2000.
If you think you might be interested in either device please let me know. I want to find out if there is a market for these devices before I spend too much time or money building one!