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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!)
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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.
...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
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.
what are you doing to help? The fine researchers here are coming up with a way to help with the education level of developing countries so they CAN feed themselves, and you are knocking them because they aren't solving all the problems RIGHT NOW? I ask again, what are you doing to feed the masses? It is very easy to critisize, much more difficult to come up with a solution, even a partial solution. I applaud MIT for their efforts, and I will step off the soapbox now.
This signature is a waste of 42 characters
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.
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
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
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