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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.
My first concern is that once given away, a very poor family might look towards selling the laptop on the black market for food, clothing, etc. How much expense would be added if biometrics were incorporated into the design so that once a laptop is "mated" to a child, only that child can operate it, thus rendering its worth on the black market so much less?
So you end up manufacturing fewer laptops, but maybe that means more of them end up being used as intended?
(and the hand crank is too cool to leave to the kiddies. I am forced to wonder whether so many of us would still be strangers to the ladies if required to produce our own power. Two hours coding, three hours debugging, and four hours pedaling the stationary bicycle that powers our boxes to allow for the coding and debugging would reduce global warming, save on healthcare costs AND yield superior breeding material, all at the same time!)
--
You didn't know.
Well, by "they" I mean our presidential candidate... wait, I mean governor... aparently wants to buy them for all the students in MA schools.
Of course, he's really just campaigning right now, not really trying to do anything in MA so it'll never happen, but they did mention it on the news this morning.
One full stomach per child.
...in contrast to many others.
;) :/ )
:/ I'm too rich apparently :|
I wonder what exactly are the processors inside...the big question is whether those are Geode (x86) or Alchemy...I wonder if choosing NON-x86 architecture would be a good way to prevent gray-market a bit and convincing parts manufacturers to supply them considerably cheaper (since the laptops wouldn't be a competition for their primary wintel market). And since it's Linux it's not a big deal when it comes to architecture...
128MB of RAM? probably similarly low...HOVEWER there's one very important difference to our typical laptops/desktops - swap is to be avoided at all costs (flash based - limited number of read/writes and...slow). Personally, I would modify the kernel/desktop enviroment (or something) that it will not allow launching of new apps when physical memory limit is closing in (eventually - allow, but display something like "to assure longevity of your laptop, please close applications you're not using)
Also, worth noting IMHO will be software choice once it's announced - simply because those software titles will become one of most widely used IN THE WORLD, no only when cosidering Linux desktop.
What are your guesses?
Since I think this laptop will be a bit RAM limited, I think they'll choose something light as possible, but easy to use also...XFce perhaps? Epiphany/Kazehakase? Opera? (I wouldn't be surprised if Opera agreed to port their browser...it's free anyway, and they would get HUGE usage boost; of course there's the question what licensing principles this project has...)? Abiword? (KOffice would be nice also...but KDE wouldn't
BTW...too bad probably it won't be available for me probably
One that hath name thou can not otter
I don't know a lot about electrical stuff, but wouldn't it take a real long time to get a decent charge out of a hand crank?
Freedom would be not to choose between black and white but to abjure such prescribed choices. -Theodor Adorno
I've played with Linux on a 266MHz Pentium II, and that worked pretty well. It's only a matter of tuning the system and throwing out unnecessary stuff and eyecandy.
I claim BS! I've been running Ubuntu on a Thinkpad 600E (366 PII) for the last six months and it works just fine (except sound). Make sure you have at least 128 meg and you'll be fine.
Zoid.com
The problem is that you can not use the latest/greatest software on it. I have deployed several toshiba P-II 350 laptops with only 64 meg of ram and the hard drive replaced with a CF card in a drive adapter. linux with xfce and smaller tightly written apps on it work absolutely great. I built several of these over a year ago for poor kids with fatal diseases. put a few games on there, a nice wordprocessor (ABIword kicks everything butt) web browser,gaim and a nice small email client. it all fit on a 512 meg CF card very easily. the company gave away dial up accounts (preconfigured for the kids) at a local ISP for them so they could get online in a manner. they work great and fast.
this is not hard to do, the hard part is manufacturing sometihng new to meet this price mark. and I would love to get my hands on a couple for evaluation.
Do not look at laser with remaining good eye.
All of those configuration modes are really neat. If it was both light enough and powerful enough, it would make an interesting competitor to the OQO. Another interesting possibility is if they GPL their source code, the community is going to get source for an e-reader and a tablet.
At $200-$300 or maybe more. If they only cost about $100, the $200 fee would help to subsidize giving them away to the poor.
They are not--and will not--be available for purchase by individuals.
/.ed for me. Does it say *why* that the case?
Page is
Software Wars
You really think he's going to spend 5 million dollars on laptops?
He's bulshitting to get votes.
This "won't be available" in the same way that a new air to air missile or MASH portable surgery unit won't be available -- you have to be the right type of group and lay out a good chunk of change to buy many of them at once. "Won't be available" does not, in this case, mean "won't exist". It's more along the lines of "if you have to ask, you can't get one".
It is preliminary - MIT hasn't won the contract... but it is an interesting answer to the request.
--
Evan
"$30 for the One True Ring. $10 each additional ring!" -- JRR "Bob" Tolkien
Presumably their cost is about $100. Why not sell it to us 'wealthy' Western nations for $150 or so? We get a neat inexpensive laptop, they get $50 to fuel their production/distribution mechanism.
Very cool concept. I'd love to see some of this technology trickle down to the consumer level (hand crank, cheap ruggedized case etc). In fact, I'd love to see these available to the consumer at $200. For every unit you buy at $200, you are buying one for a developing country. It'd be like buying a cheap laptop and donating to charity all at once.
My biggest concern with this, and all other laptops-for-schoolkids programs is that they actually do proper class programming with them (programming as in lecture design etc, not Objective-C/Java/etc). It's not simply enough to hand kids a laptopo and expect them to suddenly learn more. You have to shape the classes and the materials in such a way as to be well-suited to a classroom full on network-connected, laptop-toting schoolkids. This can be done, but it does take thought; hopefully the school boards engaging in such programs have done this planning.
"Reality is merely an illusion, albeit a very persistent one " -Albert Einstein
Link to article on how broadcasting grain prices helps standardize the market and prevent the small-time farmer from getting screwed.
Thats a direct example of not just technology, but technologically aided flow of information directly "empowers" (read: gives them more money) a person.
Who knows how laptops could be used!
In the future, I would want to not be isolated from my friends in the Space Station.
I'm not saying (as I think some that responded to my original post) that these devices are useless and have no value, it's just that their value is a little far removed from the core needs. Of course, as other posters suggested, perhaps the target audience is not those who don't have any resources at all, but who have some base resources but just can't get out of the hole their in. I'm still not sure how these can get them out of their hole, because the only way to typically get out of a hole is to either suddenly have a glut of resources so time is freed up to invest in something else, or the willingness to take a risk and forego what resources one does have to journey somewhere else. Of course, the possibility to perhaps communicate with someone willing to donate resources to get someone out of their situation makes the analysis more complex.
Anyway, education doesn't do much if one cannot do something with that education; that was my point. Knowledge in and of itself isn't useful, it's the application of that knowledge that comes in handy. Now, the tricky part comes in where some knowledge is where to go to use other types of knowledge. ;)
Anyway, after taking a minute to think about it, if these things are distributed along with a plan to help those who get them understand how they are supposed to be used, I'd be more accepting of the resources (after all, 15 million units x $100 is $1.5 billion, which is still a lot of resources) required for this program.
And for those other posters who feel I'm trolling, I'd challenge them to try subsistence farming (when I was a young child, my family grew about 30% of our food ourselves. That was hard enough on good land, not to mention storing all that food, chopping wood for the furnace, etc...) on marginally arable land without a machine shop or hardware store around for a year and see just how much free time you have to poke around on the internet, or find/make the materials and tools required the makeshift water purifier for which you provided a link.
"There are a dozen opinions on a matter until you know the truth. Then there is only one." - CS Lewis (paraprhase)
Come on people... surely there are countries where people (children included) are starving and they need help desperately. And there are also those countries that are not exactly starving for food, but they are desperately need to hold their own and take care of themselves.
My point is that if you live in a poor country the first thing you would want after your stomach is full is to find out how you can work to get this stuff for yourself. Computers are the ultimate pieces of machinery to help educate the mind and also with the ability to connect to the International Network to get all the information they need about farming, building, etc. whatever they need to build up their communities into shape. Replace all the missionaries with materials and these laptops.
The finished product rocked. I lived with a room mate who owned a couple of them, and they worked wonderfully. The weird thing, though, was the price-tag.
In the third world, a wind-up radio cost about ten bucks. But here in the West, where money grows on trees and the streets are paved with gold, the average Yuppie had to shell out up to $200 for the gizmo.
I don't know if I agree or disagree with this kind of marketing, but it'd be interesting to see how the story goes with MIT's do-hicky. Not that it'll probably make much difference; from their web-site; "these laptops are not in production. They are not--and will not--be available for purchase by individuals."
For my part, I am partial to the HP Jornada 820 when it comes to small and ultra-portable computers. Word-processing with no moving parts other than the flip-screen and lap-top keyboard means an 8 hour battery life. --It runs on flash cards, and so long as all you want to do is write and store data, you can't do much better. (Forget gaming, though, but I couldn't care less about that.)
I think there should be more devices like this generally available; they're just so useful. Dedicated word-processors with good key-boards and screens are hard to come by and too damned expensive for what you get generally. The Jornada is the exception, which is probably why the plug got pulled on it. --HP stopped making the Jornada 820 back in the late nineties; I got mine off Ebay for about $250, and I use it all the time. I wish it could run on wind-up power. I wonder if there's a charger out there which has a hand-crank. . .
I think there's a subconscious conspiracy to make sure people don't have access to useful tools for writing and creating which don't come armed with severe operating limitations, (the standard lap-top with lame battery life), and a million and one mind-numbing distractions, (DVD players and game and music options. Bah. Writers write, they don't waste time messing around with toys.)
-FL
Why can't I buy one?
I would pay plenty for a rugged Linux laptop with 500 MHz AMD in it. I say I cannot buy one because in an article I read they said it should be a stigma to use it as an adult. The Simputer people were the same way (I twice contacted their sales asking for info, it said on the sight it was as good for people in NY as India, no response). If these companies are making products that are a good value, but still prophitable lets defray the cost some. If it is truly durable I would pay $500 for it over a low end Dell/Gateway. Then they can donate 4 to a school and everyone wins (I would be far more likly to buy one sub $250 though).
Wow, sent an e-mail as suggested when clicking on "use classic" banner, and got a fast response that addressed my msg
It's a cool computer and great idea to supply the developing countries children with them.
That aside, as earlier posters noted why not just help feed them? The current food supplies are enough to feed the entire world and people are still starving (food supplies are increasingly becoming a problem though). So how will making these low-cost computers available to developing countries be any easier than making food available? How will they "fix" the supply chain problem?
Also, did they take in to account the cost to assemble these things? Is it 100$ for parts or parts and labor? If it's made in a developed nation the cost will probably double. Why don't they have them assembled in the developing nations? That way they can provide jobs and computers to families.
Again, great idea, but I'm suspicious of the reality to delivery upon this idea.
Fat, drunk, and stupid is no way to go through life, son.
I can tell you that this type of computer is going to be a huge hit, especially in the urban areas. There's a huge untapped market for a product in this price range and huge potential. A lot of families have the money (at least in the cities) to afford a unit at that cost and they will purchase them for their kids - education is a huge priority and a lot of parents want to get as many modern tools in the hands of their kids as possible.
I have a lot of experience supporting equipment in places where these things are being considered, and a lot of the comments are spot on - the elements are extremely hard on any equipment (dust, humidity) as well as power surges. I'm not as concerned about dealing with curricula or proper usage - kids overseas are the same as they are here - they'll figure out creative meaningful ways to use these things and schools/families will figure out meaningful ways to teach/make them valuable learning tools. Don't assume just because folks are dirt poor they don't get it.
I remember taking my Powerbook overseas all the time into the bush in Africa, out to Mongolia, or in the South Pacific - it took a beating but always worked. We also considered (and I traveled a bit with) the eMates (http://www.msu.edu/~luckie/gallery/emate300.htm) - which are sort of the same thing - I loved that thing and it was really rugged. To me the bigger hurdle is not so much hardware, but connectivity - a 100 dollar laptop that can't get to the internet cheaply isn't as valuable. If this can be combined with cheap broadband access, then you won't be able to make them fast enough.
All three functions can be performed much better with cheaper, established technology.
1. and 2. are most easily achieved by radio. Transistor radios are almost laughably cheap now, and it is possible to get shortwave sets to broadcast to very remote areas. Radio has two additional benefits: localization is very easy (simply ensure that the person speaking into the microphone speaks the language you want) and it does not require literacy. If your main priority is getting information out, then it is probably better to do it by speaking to the people who need it most in the language that they can understand (even if it's over the air). Handing them a notebook that they might not be able to use because they can't read the symbols on the screen is stupid.
3. is already happening through the use of mobile phones. GSM phones are cheap to buy and cheap to use, even for those with very limited means. In third-world markets, it is possible to buy a few minutes or even seconds of mobile phone time.
It's heretical to be anti-shiny on /. but we really have to think about how better to use the tools at hand, rather than trying to leapfrog from the Flintstones to the Jetstones with one laptop
I think if they sell these at, say, $150 a pop to americans, they have the potential to sell millions. Anyone remember the failed email appliances from a few years ago? These are a lot sexier looking and far more portable.
With the tablet and e-book functionality, it's something you could use from the couch watching TV, from the kitchen to show recipes, hell, even from the bathtub for some reading material while you relax. If it's rugged enough for 3rd world countries, then it's something kids could use without fear of causing too much damage. They'd have to have an OS on it that's simple and reliable because you can't necessarily get tech support in BFE Africa, so it's got to be stable and simple enough for my grandma to use.
I think low-cost units like this are the future of app-centric computing. Gaming still requires a more intense setup, but as computers get better, imagine hooking a VR rig to this little unit and being fully immersed in a virtual world. The potential for this kind of technology is just staggering.
Government's view of the economy: If it moves, tax it. If it keeps moving,regulate it. If it stops moving, subsidize it.
Not to mention that most (not all) hunger is politcal in nature - it's easier to control a starving nation than a well fed one. Remember Ethiopia in the 80's? (okay, I admit it, I'm old) We gave them tons and tons of food that rotted in warehouse in the the capitol because the current dictator didn't want his people fed. Shoot, look at recent history in Iraq - Sadam would do the whole "oil for food" thing, and not distribute the food/medicine until the black market prices rose high enough. Then he'd sell it off on the black market. Of course, the coutries that choose to starve their people aren't going to distribute laptops to the children. They'd rather sell them off on the black market and pocket the money. So there's still hope for geeks the world over - withing a year of their release you'll find the laptops all over ebay.
Genius is one percent inspiration and 99 percent perspiration, which is why engineers sometimes smell really bad.
Has anyone seen the movie The First $20 Million is Always the Hardest? It's about designing a $100 computer for the same reasons. I thought it was an interesting idea and that it should be looked into. Glad to see that it's fiction turning into fact. And Gary Busey's son was in it.
-Bob
...but I'm a little concerned about their rankings in CharityNavigator:
r ch.summary/orgid/9654.htm
http://www.charitynavigator.org/index.cfm/bay/sea
I'm especially concerned about the fact that their CEO is making about 6% of the organization's total income.
I don't doubt the possibility that they are doing something very different or revolutionary (which I could see as justification), but honestly, why the high program expenses to teach sustainable, low-input farming? I'm a big fan of this method, but it appears to be run inefficiently.
Many ad-hoc studies have shown that people, especially inquisitive kids, are quite adept at figuring out how computers work. And I'm talking about kids who have 0 experience with computers. They figure out that the icons launch applications, etc etc. It's really quite amazing and if you're interested I'm sure it'll be easy for you to search on it rather than making a blanket statement based simply on your opinion and anecdotal experiences.
Secondly, we already have organizations like the World Bank and other NGOs that work on bringing them direct aid for things like food, water, wells and shelter. If you read up on how much the World Bank accomplishes you'd be amazed.
I think it's great that we provide them with the ability to get an education and close the gaps of information. This might not be the most practical thing for a tribe that's in the middle of the desert, but there are many poor countries that are NOT third world but don't have access to computers and this would serve them very well.
"Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere." - Martin Luther King, Jr.
Actually, it is a very good idea, and your visceral attack of it only serves to highlight your lack of imagination. It's one thing to disagree, it's another thing entirely to attack another's merits (and in this case, even the moderators'!) because you disagree with the idea. An ad hominum attack is a very good sign of a poorly thought-out rebuttal.
A small resistive device which generates electricity is very conceivable, and very useful. Connected by a small wire to the power input of the laptop, and with the physical contact surfaces covered with a non-slip coating, such a device would enable both hands to work on the laptop while the user is easily generating enough power to run the device. Not a bad solution.
you end up with a table and chair and pedal mount and laptop
Requires a chair, does it? Pray tell, how do you use your laptop - standing up, holding it in one hand, typing with the other? How on earth would you use the hand crank, then?
The pedal mount is moot - you don't need one. And I know I could put a laptop in my lap and still tap my foot...
Sounds like a very worthwhile alternative to me.