As I was watching the news yesterday I heard that someone had made a 100$ laptop for the United Nations in a project named "One Laptop per Child". You got to admit it sounds great... So I did a research with Google... The company that will produce the 100$ laptop is related to MIT and the laptop will enter into production in late 2006-early 2007. By now you probablty want to heard the specifications:500MHz AMD CPU, 1GB Flash Memory (it won't have a HDD since it is very expensive), 256MB RAM, 12" color display (you will also be able switch it to black and white for a better power saving). Well of course it is not the best, but for 100$ is great. Also its great on the connectivity part... it has a new kind of network called "mesh network", peer-to-peer, plus 4 USB.
And since it is built for the United Nations (I like very, very much how that sounds... it gives you the impressions of greatness) and the 3rd World Countries it has alternative power supply (we all know amny people in Africa are starving, so they are not worrying too much about electricity).
The bad news it that the 100$ laptop will not be sold (as I was looking documenting I saw in an interview with the CEO of company that is producing the laptop and he said that probably there will be a comercial version with a price tag of 200$ and some of that money will go to the developing of the 100$ version). So who will have this laptops... well children from all over the world and specially the children from Africa. So guverments will buy the laptop in huge numbers (millions) and they will distribute them for free to schools and children. I have heard that some contries even showed their interest in buying over 5 milllion laptops. They also predict that the price may go down if there are enough requests...
The prototype was shown by UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan on the 16th of Octomber at the World Summit on the Information Society in Tunisia. It sounds great in theory, I really hope this becomes a reality, because there are a lot of kids in Africa who didn't even heard of computers and internet.

For more info Click HERE or search the net for the 100$ laptop...

 

 

 

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Wow. I gues altruism really does exist. This probably will give people oppotunies to be able to use something, that could help them find a job and make money.

Only issue is, who would be able to access it, if it's all in the goverment hands.

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Yeah i also read it in the news somewhere...may be even on this site , or some where else...i am just wondering if it is real laptop? i mean whats the configuration of this laptop?Was i so stupid to buy a laptop whose price is 1400 €...

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I think this is going to be really good, especially for the children and schools not only in Africa but all over the world. They wont have to carry as many books as they would have too, and the secretary of education (at least in Mexico) is going to save a lot of money (well actually I guess they would invest it in the laptops) compared to all the books they give out for free.

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And he broke it. anyway to the more relevent point while I think it is a good thing in theory the practice can be very different, the way I understand this (well at least the way the news told me it, correct me if I'm wrong) they are not going to be manufacturing these untill they are ordered, that means that theoretically no one will order them as they don't fully understand what they are getting. I also have reservations about the potential effect of these on developing countries I think it is a very bad idea to claim that these will instantly make a country more self sufficient. But I do however think that these can have a good effect especially in education as it maens that they will not have to buy books and paper and things for schools and if the network is up to it they may even mean that they do not have to construct school buildings so that funds can be applied to more urgent problems such as feeding the popualation. Any way I know I tend to babble on abit so heres a nice brief summary incase I lost you, $100 Laptops = a great start, but by no means a great solution.

 

 

 

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A $100 laptop is great, but I think there a more important issues at hand. I think a vast majority of people that get one of the laptops will have no use for it. If these are given to anyone who has never used a computer they are pointless (I doubt there will be extensive trainings sessions on its use). Even if someone is familiar with computers, in the event that something goes wrong at all the user won't be able to troubleshoot problems. Also, the laptop will have to be sturdy enough to handle extreme conditions and for $100 that is difficult to pull off. Besides the technical difficulties other issues at hand are starvation, disease, government instablility... I think funds would be better spent by aiding countries and people by sending food, medicine, doctors, and adminstrators.

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Well I did a current even on this a month ago and learned a lot about it. It is supposed to have a hand crank that powers it. It isn't meant to have games just to store files for school like to type things up. It has a rubber casing around it to help make it very durable. It should help those who can't afford them. They have already produced quite a bit of them and have given them to countries that really need them to use them as a prototype.

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This is very good! Most schools here in the Philippines do not have computers, and I hope we could be one of the recipients of this $100 laptops. Computer learning is now part of curriculum in most schools here, but they do not really have computers to use. The teachers only use some visual aids and images to show the kids/students on how computers look like and how they work. But of course students would have hard time understanding lectures with just visual aids. They need hands-on tutorials and lessons.

We are still a third world country, and computers and technology are making a big upgrade to our economy. Most jobs here require computers, and most first world contries are hiring us for outsourcing jobs. We need more computers to give people more understanding on the technology, and so get a decent job that would give them high salaries.

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I think it's a great idea - especially as there are many schools in developing countries that don't have computers, this wil be a boost. I read boyCradle's comment that technology is rapidly making a positive change in the ecomony...and of course, like in any subject, theory and diagrams can only go so far with something as technical as computers. It takes a lot of practical experience to reallt get the most out of using technology.

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