“Computing corduroy, memory muslin, and solar silk might be the literal fabric of tomorrow’s digital dress; so instead of carrying your laptop, wear it,” says Nicholas Negroponte, a U.S. based business executive. In Nigeria today, laptops have turned from being exclusive preserves of the rich to an all-comers item. Company executives, politicians, civil servants, clerics, students and fraudsters, all handle the laptop. Figures, recently released by the International Data Corporation, showed that formal sale of laptops in Nigeria in 2008 rose from the previous year’s figure of 77,966 sets to 196,122.
However, experts’ estimation is that for every laptop sold in the formal sector, 15 are sold in the informal market. Going by rationale, the estimated number of laptops purchased by the end of 2008 in the country is presumed to be 2.9 million.
This increase in the sale of laptops has been attributed to ease of mobility which the laptop has, the little space it requires, its low power consumption levels and an increasing awareness of computerisation in the country. Otherwise called notebooks, laptops usually have hardware and software similar to the Personal Computers, PCs, but in the case of the laptop, these are more compact. They also have flat, lightweight Liquid Crystal Displays, LCDs, instead of television-like video display monitors.
Richard Okafor, a computer dealer at the popular Computer Village in Ikeja, Lagos speaks of the uniqueness of the laptop: “The laptop is the CPU (Central Processing Unit), it is the monitor and it is also the UPS (Uninterrupted Power Supply), all put together in one package.” This advantage is addition to the fact that the laptop can be easily carried and used at home and in the office, thus making it the number one choice. Okechukwu Okorie, is a sport analyst and he owns a laptop. For him, the laptop is more than a work device. “It is one of my most treasured possessions, so treasured that it is protected as it follows me through out the day. It contains all my documents, projects, drawings, pictures - just about anything that is me. I always carry it around with an external mouse, flash drive, external hard drive and external internet connector so I can set up a mini-office any where I am, of course, anywhere that is safe!” he says.
If Okorie believes his laptop is his replica, Samson Egbekunle, an IT expert, says his laptop is not only a tool that brings in money but a companion. “My laptop is a good companion. I use it to do a lot of job that brings in money for me and I use it for personal development and for entertainment when I need to relax.”
The recent offer of 750,000 laptops at the cost of N55,000 to Nigerians by Hewlett Packard, HP, has further made it easier to own a laptop. Launched last month, the ‘750,000 laptops at affordable price’ broke new grounds in cooperation as HP, ACER, Toshiba and indigenous company, Zinox, pooled resources, under the umbrella of Computerise Nigeria Project, CNP, with the active participation of Microsoft, to make the latest IT products available to Nigerians.
The project was aimed at enhancing productivity by empowering workforce. The target audience were civil servants form the federal, state and local governments, staff of organised private sector, staff of military and para-military organizations, students and staff of educational institutions and cooperatives. Computerise Nigeria Project Limited was launched in 2001 and is a pioneer of computer discount and ownership scheme in Nigeria. It has been in the fore front of the promotion of Digital Knowledge Democracy in Nigeria and has, over the years, achieved multiple successes in the computerisation of schools, offices and homes.
Less important is the fact that with the laptop, it is much easier to access mobile services which are increasingly on offer from the telecoms networks. Today, GSM service providers have joined their CDMA counterparts in the competition to provide internet access to subscribers. The innovative package allows users to browse via their laptops at reduced rates. This is bolstered by the fact that it occupies less space and has a power pack which can keep it functioning for three hours, depending on the brand. Some banks and leasing firms have caught on, on the laptop fever. Many of them have come up with innovative asset acquisition schemes which allow for easy purchase at pocket-friendly prices through staggered payment options spread over 12 to 18 months. These days, it is possible to own a laptop without paying a substantial sum at the point of possession.
Flip Africa is a non-governmental organisation aimed at popularising the laptop. It hopes to place at least one million laptops in the hands of Africans by 2015 thereby accelerating the development of competencies and life skills for Africans everywhere. It also has a mission to significantly expand the number of Africans with access to laptops and create opportunities for these individuals and communities to realize and tap into the social and economic potential of the new digital ecosystem. However, to get a laptop from Flip Africa, one is required to become a partner to the organisation, and to become a partner, all one is expected to do is make a one time payment of project partnership fee of just N15,000.
The proliferation in the use of laptops and easy access to the internet in most Nigerian cities is not without its effects on the cyber cafés as youngsters who form the bulk of café patrons have found replacement in owning a system. However, a lot of cons surround the laptop craze. Michael Bamidele, a cyber café operator, explains that laptops are like hide outs for fraudsters. “Laptop makes it very easy for ‘yahoo’ fraudsters to perpetrate their crime without any interference from law enforcement agents. Unlike the cyber café which can be raided anytime, these crooks can now do their thing in the comfort of their homes undisturbed.”
Also, the influx of laptops means that teenagers can now access pornographic materials with less difficulty. A report by the News Agency of Nigeria, NAN, found that pornographic images were stored on many of the laptops donated by the One Laptop Per Child project. Nevertheless, the mass acquisition of laptops is undoubtedly a welcome development, as the merits far outweigh the demerits. According to Okorie, “I think laptops would become trendier and compact by 2015. Normally technological trends ensure that larger items become more 'micro' or smaller and laptops would follow suit. I believe also it would have more uses and generally become cheaper and accessible to many.” Egbekunle agrees with him.

By Yemi Bamidele