Laptop for US$100

[impar]

Greetings!

"The tentative specifications for the machine are both fascinating and frustratingly unclear. It will have a rubber casing and is designed with rugged terrain in mind. Images appear to show tablet functionality. The screen and keyboard pivot on a cylinder that holds the battery and functions as a hand crank, as well as making a nifty carrying handle."
in, http://arstechnica.com/news.ars/post/20050929-5362.html

[Rio]

I read that a few days back. Only problem I see is distribution. I mean look at all the food and medicine the US sends to poor nations. It always ends up in the hands of corrupt goverments looking to profit and control...

[impar]

I mean look at all the food and medicine the US sends to poor nations. It always ends up in the hands of corrupt goverments looking to profit and control...

"For example, to keep the $100 laptops from being widely stolen or sold off in poor countries, he expects to make them so pervasive in schools and so distinctive in design that it would be "socially a stigma to be carrying one if you are not a student or a teacher." He compared it to filching a mail truck or taking something from a church: Everyone would know where it came from."
in, http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20050928/ap_ ... MlJVRPUCUl

Images:
http://beta.news.com.com/2300-1044_3-5884639-1.html

[Rio]

I mean look at all the food and medicine the US sends to poor nations. It always ends up in the hands of corrupt goverments looking to profit and control...

"For example, to keep the $100 laptops from being widely stolen or sold off in poor countries, he expects to make them so pervasive in schools and so distinctive in design that it would be "socially a stigma to be carrying one if you are not a student or a teacher." He compared it to filching a mail truck or taking something from a church: Everyone would know where it came from."
in, http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20050928/ap_ ... MlJVRPUCUl

Images:
http://beta.news.com.com/2300-1044_3-5884639-1.html

It's a great dream, but do you honestly think it will work? We'll need to revisit this in about 10 years or so.

[impar]

Greetings!

If the country has some degre of peace/social calm I dont see why not.
Googling fot it, found several references to Brasil thinking about adopting it.
What would be Microsoft reaction?

[impar]

Greetings!

"Mr. Negroponte and other backers say they have held discussions with at least two dozen countries about purchasing the laptops and that Brazil and Thailand have expressed the most interest so far. In addition, Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney recently proposed spending $54 million to buy one of the laptops for every student in middle school and high school in his state."
in, WSJ

[impar]

Greetings!

"MIT Media Lab chief Nicholas Negroponte's One Laptop Per Child project has won a key backer, as the United Nations Development Program announced that it will support the program, which aims to produce laptops that can be sold for as little as $100 each for sale in the developing world. "
in, http://www.engadget.com/2006/01/26/un-t ... 00-laptop/

[impar]

Greetings!

"Early prototypes of the system included a hand crank, but that design has now been replaced by a pull string."
in, http://techreport.com/onearticle.x/10420

[impar]

Greetings!

"The government of Nigeria has placed an order for one million "$100 laptops" from the One Laptop Per Child (OLPC) initiative. The laptops will likely cost around $140, according to VNUnet, as unit prices aren't expected to sink to $100 until 2008. Furthermore, the OLPC project won't kick off production until orders for 5-10 million laptops have been secured. Thus far, the OLPC association is in talks with countries like Brazil, China, Egypt, and Thailand, and VNUnet says other nations are close to placing orders."
in, http://techreport.com/onearticle.x/10433

[impar]

Greetings!

"Although MIT failed to reach the $100 price point, the Linux-based laptop is a remarkable achievement. Manufactured by Chinese hardware company Quanta, the rugged, portable computer features a 400mhz AMD Geode processor (the original prototypes had a 366mhz processor), 128MB of DRAM, built-in wireless support, and 512MB of flash memory for internal storage."
in, http://arstechnica.com/news.ars/post/20060825-7593.html