Cast-off Netbooks send home snapshots of 'afterlife' (photos)

MIT researchers tracked cast-off Netbooks to find out what the "afterlives" of our electronic gadgets are like.

They sent refurbished Netbooks to people in developing countries. The researchers set up the computers to record location and take pictures, and send the data home to MIT. The Netbooks carried stickers explaining the project in the local language.

The ghostly images are random windows into the everyday lives of people in Africa, South Asia, and Indonesia. Here, we're traveling to Kathmandu, Nepal.

One Netbook found a home in a shop in Kathmandu, Nepal.

Not every shot captured the computer's new owners unawares.

Was she unaware, self-conscious, or unconcerned?

The sign on the wall gives you a good picture of the shop.

Another Netbook found a second life in a classroom in Accra, Ghana.

MIT collected the pictures and location data with the new owners' permission.

A Netbook in Ghana snapped a photo of the Ghanaian flag on a classroom wall.

A refurbished Netbook's camera captures a moment in a Ghanaian student's day.

Is this Ghanaian student's attention wandering?

A third cast-off Netbook's new life is in a home in Kolkata (Calcutta), India.

The images provide a glimpse into the lives of computer users in developing countries.

The Netbooks snapped pictures every 20 minutes, sometimes capturing empty rooms.

Random framing sometimes results in beautiful images.

A computer user in Kolkata (Calcutta) seems intent on his work.