On my way back from a camping trip in the Cascades, I had the pleasure of talking to Cliff Schmidt, CEO of Literacy Bridge, at a Seattle-area Starbucks. Even though I managed to go to the wrong one -- it's actually true: Starbucks is to Seattle as daisies are to my lawn (and both could use a trimming) -- we ended up having an hour-long conversation about Literacy's Bridge's upcoming product, the Talking Book.

A yellow box about the size of a clock radio, the Talking Book will provide literacy training and important information to people in developing countries. Essentially a small computer without a screen, the Talking Book uses a 10-button interface to create -- simply -- an audio navigation system, complete with hyperlinks. No, really: audio files can be tagged with a cue to prompt users to push a button for more information, before returning them to the story. A USB port and cable allows devices to share information with each other or connect to a computer to be filled with locally-produced content. It even has a microphone. It's an interactive mixed-tape, a boom-box with a soul.

I'm not a reporter, and I didn't take notes, so I won't try to quote Cliff, but I can tell you that Literacy Bridge is an all-voluteer organization, and that Cliff is truly a techie-for-good who becomes quite animated when he talks about the project. This is work he clearly loves, and it's inspiring to see his enthusiasm.

Literacy Bridge hopes to offer the Talking Book for around $5 eventually, to put it within reach of pretty much everybody. They're just about to start a pilot program in Ghana with 100 devices; 35 of them are paid for so far. If their work speaks to you, I'm sure they'd appreciate a donation.