Manufacturer Picked For $100 Laptop 236
IZ Reloaded writes "MIT has picked Taiwanese firm Quanta to manufacture its $100 laptop. From PCWorld: 'Under terms of an agreement with One Laptop Per Child, Quanta will devote engineering resources to develop the $100 notebook design during the first half of the year, according to a statement issued by the group. At the same time, Quanta and the non-profit organization will explore the production of a commercial version of the laptop.'" Apparently they don't think it's ineffectual either.
Good choice of manufacturer (Score:4, Informative)
Bad title (Score:5, Informative)
Quanta's specs (Score:4, Informative)
1 GB Memory
"Skinny version" of the open-source Linux operating system
Two-mode screen, viewed in color and black-and-white display
Powered either with an AC adapter or via a wind-up crank w/ 10-to-1 crank rate
4 USB ports
Wi-Fi- and cell phone-enabled
Each laptop acts as a node in a mesh peer-to-peer ad hoc network
When closed, the hinge forms a handle and the AC cord can function as a carrying strap
The laptops will be rugged and probably made of rubber
I say this is not bad at all for $100.00.
More informations (Score:5, Informative)
I submitted the story 2 days ago, but it was rejected (damn I hate when that happens), so here is more information...
Here is the official press release [mit.edu] from the One Laptop per Child organization. OLPC Chairman Nicholas Negroponte said, "Any previous doubt that a very-low-cost laptop could be made for education in the developing world has just gone away."
Also tech specs can be found on the FAQ page [mit.edu]: 500 MHz processor, 128 MB RAM.
Re:What about older laptops? (Score:2, Informative)
The concept behind the $100 laptop is to create a commodity computing device tailored for an area where power and communications infrastructure are absent. In fact the laptop BECOMES the communications infrastructure (with ad-hoc nodes). Sending over relatively fragile devices that were designed for 1st world power and communications (and repair) networks just won't cut it... at least not in the rural areas where this is targeted.
Your idea works fine for the cities, however, and I think there are actually used equipment import/export companies, who send over refurbished heavy equipment and computers. But again, different target user, different infrastructure.
Already are. It's called the GP2X (Score:4, Informative)
For $179, I can watch movies, music, play several different consoles (Right now we have 100% functional sega genesis, gameboy, not bad for the first 2 weeks. PSX and SNES are partially functional)
Quanta is a great choice.... (Score:5, Informative)
- Dell (Latitude)
- IBM/Levono (any and all of them)
- Sony (Vaio)
- Apple (iBook)
- Gateway
They also made HP laptops in the past. Plus they're moving into cell phones and other eletronics.
Their CEO Barry Lim was named one of Computer Reseller News's Top 25 Execs in November (http://www.crn.com/showArticle.jhtml?articleID=1
They have the track record to make this happen properly. I just wonder why they'd do it. Maybe for the P.R. points? It's not for the cash.
You watch too much TV news. (Score:3, Informative)
Yes, Africa has problems and there is a need for clean water and food. But Africa is not as bad off as you might imagine from what you see on the nightly (so called) news.
If you can't find a copy of NGs Africa issue I highly recommend you try to locate a copy of the latest New African. It is a British magazine and hard to locate in the U. S. but well worth the effort if you do find it. I get mine from DeLauer's bookstore in Oakland, CA. I have also seen it at Barnes & Noble.
Again, I agree that Africa has problems, but they are not as bad as we are led to believe. Also, this laptop will create opportunities that you and I cannot see from our distant perspective.
Re:"Business at the Speed of Thought"-ish? (Score:5, Informative)
This won't directly go to the "poorest people in the world"... this will go to the slighty less poor folk trying to help them. I'd imagine a lot of these will end up in farmer's cooperatives or collectives, used to distribute information to the farmers themselves. Sure, an illiterate farmer can't use a computer, but the local aid workers or agriculturists can.
And even if the parents are illiterate, the presence of cheap computers available at the local library will help make sure their children aren't (with $100 computers and some form of wireless access, small rural libraries are now feasible in areas where shipping books in useful quantities are too expensive).
I've seen a project in India where a guy accesses the US Navy Geographical Survey page, looks up local weather conditions, and broadcasts the current weather report over short-wave radio every morning to the local fishing villages. The main problem was maintaining an Internet connection and computer for the announcer guy. Being able to deploy even one computer and 'net connection (rudimentary dialup, whatever) per village instead of only in the bigger population centers will help in disseminating this information to more people.
The organizers aren't as completely out of touch with reality as some people here, it seems.
Re:Quanta's specs (Score:1, Informative)
Nonsense. In most 3rd world countries, the fixed telephone network is nearly nonexistent, and everyone has a cell phone. When demand starts to surge, adequate data plans will be provided.
Re:"Business at the Speed of Thought"-ish? (Score:2, Informative)
now don't you feel stupid? i do realize not every third world county is within 50 miles of a cellular tower, but quite a few are, especially if there is any kind of tourism, or major economic development in the region.
true 192kbps split between 40 students doesn't go far, and Someone has to pay the monthly cost for cellular internet, but they Will have internet access, where available.
Autochtonous economic development (Score:2, Informative)
Yeah, like autochtonous economic development, something that first world nations have been fighting extremely hard for the past few decades. And guess what, food "aid" is in fact aid for the givers [globalissues.org].
Re:1 GB Memory? (Score:1, Informative)
Re:More informations (Score:3, Informative)
Everything I've found out I've written up in the $100 laptop Wikipedia article [wikipedia.org].
I still have more to write up about the software system.
But little hint: think about where Alan Kay comes from. Smalltalk. The Dynabook. Constructivist learning.
This is not a "linux laptop" as most of you know it (linux kernel + X + GNU tools + a Window manager). This is a Squeak/Linux laptop not a GNU/Linux (to parallel the nomenclature). This is the Dynabook [wikipedia.org] that finally ships to lots of people.
The user will live in a Squeak [wikipedia.org] (i.e. Smalltalk) world. They'll have everything they need to modify the system. In Smalltalk. With other systems on top of it (yes, you can write browsers and email and everything else in Smalltalk and the user can modify it if they should wish. I suspect that it will also ship with Kay's current research systems like Scratch [mit.edu] and possibly Croquet [wikipedia.org]