MIT Unveils Prototype for $100 Linux Laptop

Examancer2 writes "MIT is showing off a prototype of a $100 laptop. It uses a 500MHz AMD processor, stores everything on flash memory, and runs Linux. The AC adapter acts as the carrying strap, and there is a hand crank so if you can't find a source of electricity you can charge it kinetically. The prototype laptop is also much more flexible and durable than your average notebook. In addition the unit has a screen that has a special daylight-friendly black & white mode that makes a great ebook." From the article: "Nicholas Negroponte, the co-founder of the Media Lab at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, detailed specifications for a $100 windup-powered laptop targeted at children in developing nations. Negroponte, who laid out his original proposal at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, in January, said MIT and his nonprofit group, called One Laptop Per Child, is in discussions with five countries--Brazil, China, Thailand, Egypt and South Africa--to distribute up to 15 million test systems to children." More coverage of this story available from ITWorld, InformationWeek, BBC, ZDNet, and the Associated Press.

Comments

More info, bad news for geeks.

[TripMaster Monkey]

More information on the $100 laptop can be found here.

A bit of bad news from this page:

Please note: these laptops are not in production. They are not--and will not--be available for purchase by individuals.

Re:More info, bad news for geeks.

[SimilarityEngine]

The linked article also states:

While the initial goal of the project is to work with governments, Negroponte said MIT is considering licensing the design or giving it to a third-party company to build commercial versions of the PC. "Those might be available for $200, and $20 or $30 will come back to us to make the kids' laptops. We're still working on that," he said.

So a little optimism isn't entirely unjustified :-)

Not for sale here

[XoXus]

Of course, as other articles in different papers have said, you won't be able to walk down to your local computer chain and buy one of these. They're strictly for developing countries.

Re:Extremely cool, but...

[thc69]

Human bodies don't burn fossil fuels, and don't release carbon that was stored before humans existed. We burn sustainable plant/animal food, releasing carbon that was still in circulation.

Therefore, human power could reduce global warming. On the scale of powering laptops, however, it could not be effective; and on a scale sufficiently large to be effective, it would be intolerable. I'm getting tired and hungry just thinking about it. Somebody get me a can of soda, some Tostitos, and a bed, stat!

Re:Extremely cool, but...

[Kunta Kinte]

Why not figure out how to make $100 water purifiers or A/C units that run of wind or solar? Or things that help make land arable?

Has it occurred to you that a significant amount of the third world has clean water and doesn't need A/C units?!

Not everyone who is poor lives like a child off a Sally Struthers commericial.

It's funny that the suggesting cheap educational computers be scrapped for A/C Units was modded insightful. Remarkable!

I grew up in a "third world" country very close to the equator. Even the very poor in the country had clean drinking water by way of public "water stands" and had shoes by way of very cheap mass produced shoes from China. Very, very few people gave a damn about A/C. We've lived in this climate for thousands of years, people simply build houses and dress to suit the climate.