Preview Of The $100 Laptop

cynical writes "Harvard's Ethan Zuckerman, founder of GeekCorps and Global Voices, got a chance last week to drop in on Nicholas Negroponte and get a preview of the $100 laptop Negroponte has designed for students in the developing world. Zuckerman talks about both its hardware and the One Laptop Per Child project, and asks the readers for suggestions for innovative ways the $100 laptop can be used." From the article: "The mockup I saw was about the size of a large paperback book. There's a stiff rubber gasket around the edge of the machine, which can double as a stand. The keyboard on the mockup was detachable, but will probably fold out on a hinge ... Two trackballs, surrounded by four way buttons, on each side of the screen act as controls, and function keys on the back act as additional buttons.)" We've previously reported on this device here on Slashdot.

slashdotting

[sammy baby]

Obviously, the linked web site is being run off a prototype of the $100 laptop.

Sneak preview pictures

[MyLongNickName]

The articles had very little on the look and feel. Better pictures can be found here [wbcampaigns.net].

Re:$100 per child?

[nb caffeine]

Hell yeah there was, I now know the best way to take a waggon all the way across the country without gettin dystentary!

Buy One Laptop, Get Literacy for Free!

[Dotnaught]

Act now and we'll throw in food, shelter, a stable power supply, and tech support for one year or the rest of your life, whichever comes first.

Re:$100 per child?

[Iriel]

"Remember all those silly computer labs back in high schools in the '80s? Did anyone get any real educational value out of them?

Of course they did! Some of them learning to crack the school network, going to on to becoming the legendary uber-hackers, eventually being hired by computer security firms!</completeanduttersatire>

Re:The non-existant $100 laptop!

[Anonymous Coward]

I think it already exists. It looks like it's being used to host the article.

Re:yes but....

[wcb4]

of course it will, silly, NetBSD will run on anything, including my Red LED wrist watch from 1979.

Add a wireless card, a DVDRW drive, USB ports

[digitaldc]

Add a wireless card, DVDRW drive and several USB ports and then it can be used as a phone, book reader, movie viewer, video game, language and typing tutor.

Maybe it can be networked to support a school tutoring program and free internet access?

Add Windows XP error reporting and Office assistants, and it can be used as an instant source of frustration and lamentation.

I couldnt get the worldchanging URL to load....maybe it could be used to support that site too.

Re:I want one of these for my kids

[kuman2]

Of course, my kids would probably complain and ask for a DVD.

that's what beatings are for

Re:$100 per child?

[sgt scrub]

What did Sam Kinison http://www.samkinison.org/ [samkinison.org] say. "Don't send them food. You can't f**king grow food in the desert! Send them f**king U-hauls!
So, I would say they could use the laptop to find places that rent U-hauls.

Re:$100 per child?

[Equuleus42]

Pace: Grueling
Rations: Meager
Temperature: Hot

Sally has fever. Lost 3 days.

You are at the Snake river. Do you want to hire a ferryman or attempt to ford the river on your own?

No more FAT KIDS!

[Ossifer]

We should give these things out to American kids!

Since they'll be required to hand-crank them every few minutes to continue playing gangbangers-shoot-the-cops, it'll be the only exercise they'll ever get!

Re:$100 per child?

[RY]

I still rember the first batch program I wrote, which got me suspended for "hacking" the school computers.

10 PRINT "This class sucks. The teacher is so stupid"
20 GOTO 10

Re:Idea

[fiannaFailMan]

You're responding to a post about a:

( ) Technical innovation in a developing country
(*) Product shipped to a developing market
( ) General discussion about IT in the devbeloping world

The location is:

( ) Africa
( ) India
( ) Bangladesh
( ) China
( ) Somewhere else in Asia
( ) South America
( ) Central America
(*) Other _unspecified_

You're objecting to it on the basis that:

(*) Poverty hasn't been eliminated in that country yet
( ) American jobs will be lost

Your argument is bogus because:

(*) Poverty hasn't been eliminated in the developed world either, that doesn't mean we should halt all technological research
(*) This will not adversely affect any efforts to alleviate poverty
(*) This will help to alleviate poverty
( ) Poverty in that country isn't as widespread as you say it is
( ) The US does not have a divine right to keep all the cool jobs

Summary: Gosh! Wow!

[xtermin8]

Have we not learned from Steve Jobs review of the Segway? Cheap micro computers will be used for porn and Solitaire. Period. Nothing to See Here.