Herders Stay Online With Donkey Power

Herdsmen are attaching solar panels to donkeys to power their laptops and cell phones.

So, we were deeply unsettled by recent news from Izmir, Turkey. According to BBC News, some of the country’s herdsmen are attaching solar panels to donkeys to power their laptops and cell phones and keep them connected to the Internet at all times. Yes, while herding sheep across the country’s rocky terrain, these farmers will be able to check their email, obsess over Twitter, and complain about HBO Go’s buffering issues, just like the rest of us.

Each panel can provide between five and seven kilowatts of electricity, and the donkeys cart them over long distances. As the BBC reporter helpfully describes, the donkeys and their back panels also provide shade while the herdsmen surf the Web. Now, we would never begrudge anyone their technological pleasures – or their human rights, according to some – but these men are eating from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. Though they might gain, they will also lose – as have we all.