

Should handheld computers for 2010 census counting cost $2600 a piece? - jakewolf
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB120724139336586845.html?mod=hps_us_whats_news

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xirium
I find it astounding that data input devices cost US$2600 each. I find it
astounding that manual processes would add US$3 billion to the US$11 billion
cost. That's about US$46 per person.

I bet you could do it cheaper with punch cards (
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Herman_Hollerith> ).

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maximilian
They should just buy a bunch of iPhones (or iPod Touches) and a team of
programmers to build a program using the new SDK. Its reasonably location
aware, has mapping, has everywhere internet, is reasonably robust, and is
super intuitive. Plus, the census folks could listen to music while walking
around.

The numbers they use always baffle me. How can anything cost $11 billion
dollars let alone just counting people?

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noonespecial
Its the 10 x 10 x 10 rule.

An individual is 10 times more effective working alone than working as an
employee. An employee is 10 times more effective than a government bureaucrat.

So:

An individual could produce a surprisingly accurate count for $100,000.

A private company could produce a surprisingly accurate count for $1,000,000.

A government agency could produce a surprisingly accurate count for
$10,000,000. (The rest of the billions are earmarks that have nothing to do
with the census.)

I won't mention the UN.

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daniel-cussen
No.

