There is an excellent article in IEEE Spectrum about the One Laptop Per Child $100 computer and the effort to distribute 100 million of these laptops in the developing world over the next several years. The scope of the project is amazing…”By any standard, the numbers are enormous: 100 million laptops is double the number produced annually throughout the world today. Simply meeting that target would almost surely cause global shortages of liquid-crystal displays and other key components.”
The engineering in the laptop is supposed to be stunning, including a switchable grey to color screen viewable in direct sunlight, manual battery charging capabilities, low power requirements in the 3 Watt range (standard laptops require 30 Watts on average), and a battery charge of up to 25 hours. The user interface is also receiving great praise, along with features that allow the device to serve as a game console, home theatre, e-book, and more. The laptop is wireless and can connect with others to create a wireless mesh network.
I love the fact that these devices will likely be dolled out directly to kids themselves, and perhaps leapfrog beauracratic interferences by educational and other institutions. It will no doubt be an interesting experiment in techno-democracy and individualized learning. At the same time, one wonders how these devices will be maintained and supported for repairs, upgrades, etc.? Also wondering if, by the time they come fully on line, cell phone and other cheaper mobile device technology will make them obsolete???
Gotta ask also, WHY WE AREN’T LOOKING AT LOW COST COMPUTING FOR THE MANY THIRD WORLD NEIGHBORHOODS IN THE DEVELOPED WORLD TOO???
Here are a couple of links to reviews of other low cost computing solutions:
Other Roads to computing for all
Quick guide to lowcost computing devices and iniatives for the developing world
There is an excellent article in IEEE Spectrum about the One Laptop Per Child $100 computer and the effort to distribute 100 million of these laptops in the developing world over the next several years. The scope of the project is amazing…”By any standard, the numbers are enormous: 100 million laptops is double the number [...]
Comments
@ 05:49
Whenever I read about the OLPC I wonder how the kids will get the power to run the computers in an areas where there is limited electricity. In the current issue of Mass High Tech, April 6-12, p3 http://www.masshightech.com I found some one who is working on the answer. Potenco, Inc has developed a “yo-yo” charger so that kids can use the yo-yo for about ten minutes to run the computer for about thirty minutes. Along with sneakers and other wearables we may be able to power all of our mobile devices into the future. To find out more about human powered electricity generation, check out the company at http://www.potenco.com
@ 02:58
I had a really good read on this, very detail, and very useful information.
Thanks.
http://www.avi-converter.net
@ 03:58
The OLPC isn’t for feral children. (Think about it.)
To answer the questions above, most small towns have schools, even in underdeveloped areas. THE OLPC is a school project. The school has a solar collector or small generator that is used to charge and power the machines during the day. It worked with regular laptops in a village with no juice in yet another pilot project.
How do you figure they will get to the Net without a central hub? Just go to http://ted.com and look up Negroponte’s talk. It was recorded last year and explains all of the questions tekkies ask about the project.