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Preview Of The $100 Laptop

Posted by ryuzaki0 on from the penguins-in-little-hands dept.

cynical writes "Harvard's Ethan Zuckerman, founder of GeekCorps and Global Voices, got a chance last week to drop in on Nicholas Negroponte and get a preview of the $100 laptop Negroponte has designed for students in the developing world. Zuckerman talks about both its hardware and the One Laptop Per Child project, and asks the readers for suggestions for innovative ways the $100 laptop can be used." From the article: "The mockup I saw was about the size of a large paperback book. There's a stiff rubber gasket around the edge of the machine, which can double as a stand. The keyboard on the mockup was detachable, but will probably fold out on a hinge ... Two trackballs, surrounded by four way buttons, on each side of the screen act as controls, and function keys on the back act as additional buttons.)" We've previously reported on this device here on Slashdot.

6 of 304 comments (clear)

  1. $100 per child? by Ossifer · · Score: 5, Insightful

    What educationally useful things will the child do with the laptop?

    As an ex-CS college professor, let me suggest that it would be better to spend that $100 on the developing world on more teachers, education for teachers, roof for schools, etc.

    Technology is not the answer to every problem. Remember all those silly computer labs back in high schools in the '80s? Did anyone get any real educational value out of them?

    1. Re:$100 per child? by nb+caffeine · · Score: 5, Funny

      Hell yeah there was, I now know the best way to take a waggon all the way across the country without gettin dystentary!

      --

      "Something's wrong with you...and I hope we never do meet again." - Deftones When Girls Telephone Boys
    2. Re:$100 per child? by rctay · · Score: 5, Insightful

      As an ex-public school teacher that ran a lab full of Apple lle's, I can honestly say very little. There was almost zero funding after the initial equipment purchase for maintenance and upgrades. Almost every teacher at the school were technophobes, and only planned class sessions in the lab to have a free period off. After four years the lab was scrapped and the computers was placed in the classrooms to gather dust. A few kids learned a few lines of basic for display tricks. The technology was just pushed too soon to inexperienced administrators.

  2. Re:Has this already been obsoleted by cellphones? by EnronHaliburton2004 · · Score: 5, Insightful

    sub-$100 devices already

    Most cell phones are not really sub-$100 devices. Their true cost of a web-enabled phone is often well over $100, but the true cost is hidden somewhere in the 1 to 2 year contract with the provider.

    Plus, the interface on a Computer is superior then the interface on a mobile phone for many tasks.

    --
    94% of Repubs and 21% of Dems voted to renew the Patriot Act
  3. Hell yes. by RandoX · · Score: 5, Insightful

    I grew up in one of those labs, on a Vax. Today I'm a professional software engineer, and I credit it all to the seeds planted in my youth trying to extend the capabilities of DCL batch files to do everything from games to utilites to public message boards. Never underestimate the power of a push in the right direction, especially at a young age.

  4. Re:I want one of these for my kids by kuman2 · · Score: 5, Funny

    Of course, my kids would probably complain and ask for a DVD.

    that's what beatings are for