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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.
How is the end user supposed to surf porn and crack at the same time?!!
You forget the market: People who probably have only seen computers in the hands of aid workers.
They're not going to know the difference between a fast environment and a slow one.
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Maybe they shouldn't then try to kill each other? Why should we help them, if they are hell-bent on tearing everything down? When they demonstrate that they are capable of building a stable society that doesn't destroy everything it touches, meybe then we should move in with money and resources? But trying to support Africa the way it is now, is equivalent to pissing in the wind.
Lesbian Nazi Hookers Abducted by UFOs and Forced Into Weight Loss Programs - -all next week on Town Talk.
Bullshit. I'm sick and tired of this "It's not their fault! It's the fault of the west!". Yes, I'm pretty sure that west is somehow to blame when government of Sudan decides to kill their own people. It's entirely the fault of the west when Mugabe decides to flush Zimbabwe down the drain. It's entirely the fault of the west when Ethiopians starved because the socialistic junta that ruled the country decided to forcibly move the population around. How about if we for a change simply assumed that it's their fault? Instead of blaming the west, why not blame the people making decisions down there? Instead of blaming west, why not blame Mugabe for Zimbabwes problems? Instead of devicing methods of killing their own people, they would try to educate and feed them instead? A novel and radical idea, don't you think?
The tools to change things in Africa, are in African hands. That is a fact. We can't make them change. We should not make them change. The change must come from themselves. We could pump billions in to Africa, but it would not change a thing, if they squander the opportunity for more killing and civil-war.
But I guess I'm being "arrogant" when I say something like that, huh?
Lesbian Nazi Hookers Abducted by UFOs and Forced Into Weight Loss Programs - -all next week on Town Talk.
Ah, the old "You are a racist!"-argument. I'm not a racist. True, Africans are black, but that's besides the point. I do not for a second believe that their problems are caused by the color of their skin or some genetic heritage. It is not racist to say "Africa's problems are mostly caused by the people living there and their rulers, and it's up to them to fix their own problems". If I said something like "Africa is a shithole because blacks can't build a working society" THEN you could call me a racist. But I'm not claiming that. What race the people in Africa happen to be is besides the point, this discussion is not about their race.
Lesbian Nazi Hookers Abducted by UFOs and Forced Into Weight Loss Programs - -all next week on Town Talk.