Working Model of MIT $100 Laptop a Hit

capt turnpike writes "The One Laptop per Child association and its chairman, MIT Media Labs's Nicholas Negroponte, unvelied a working model of their $100 laptop at the Massachusetts Innovation and Technology Exchange (MITX) show, and the little laptop that might was a hit. It's got a version of Fedora Linux, is rugged, and each unit will work as part of a wireless mesh automatically. From the article: "However, as Negroponte put it in his address, One Laptop per Child isn't all about the laptops. The main goal is to tap into the ability of every child to toss away a manual and figure out how to make gadgets work on their own, thus helping children help themselves to learn." eWEEK.com also has photos."

Comments

Teach a kid to fish...

[TripMaster Monkey]

From Negroponte's address in TFA:

"The main goal is to tap into the ability of every child to toss away a manual and figure out how to make gadgets work on their own, thus helping children help themselves to learn."

Negroponte then went on to say:

With this in mind, we won't be supplying any documentation for these laptops. Instead, we're going to make the children sift through MAN pages and beg for answers on various bulletin boards, where they will be ridiculed as clueless n00bs. Hey, it seems to work for the Linux community..."

Re:Teach a kid to fish...

[SatanicPuppy]

True enough. Teaching millions of kids to run linux, with all those programming tools right there and available, in an environment where you can get the source and piddle with it any time you want, is bound to create a whole new level of computer savvyness.

Also, since they have to be cranked, all those kids will also have Popeye forearms.

I would like to be the first to welcome our future giant forearm/elite hacker overlords!

Re:Teach a kid to fish...

[sharkey]

"I code to the finich, 'cuz I eats me spinach, I'm PERLeye the Recursion Man!" *printf-printf*

For the children

[m-wielgo]

I know it's meant for children, but damn that thing screams Fisher-Price ugliness!

This will all be worthwhile

[dr_dank]

This will all be worthwhile when we have first African child get first post on Slashdot (and then gets modded down. Welcome to the interweb, n00b!).

Re:This will all be worthwhile

[$RANDOMLUSER]

> This will all be worthwhile when we have first African child get first post on Slashdot

KUNTA PSOT!

Re:Just for third world counties?

[Rob T Firefly]

We need to encourage this sort of thing overseas, so these kids can grow up into the next generation of outsourced tech support reps serving the next generation of American pointy-haired bosses who can barely work a can opener.

no manual?

[Anonymous Coward]

>The main goal is to tap into the ability of every child to toss away a manual
>and figure out how to make gadgets work on their own, thus helping children help themselves to learn.

So in other words, a global pandemic of people who don't know how to RTFM.

At least someone will be learning engineering ...

[DysenteryInTheRanks]

The main goal is to tap into the ability of every child to toss away a manual and figure out how to make gadgets work on their own ...

... so that by age 18 they can change their professional name to "Bob" and tell Americans weaned on PlayStations that "WiFi connections do not involve 'gremlins,' sir;" "any software company offering free pornography for each install probably should not be trusted" and "there is no 'feng shui' component on your iPod, and if there were it would not be defective, and if it were defective then no, it would not be covered by AppleCare."

Yay capitalism ;->

Re:butt-ugly, but

[Kesch]

Actually, the crank idea seems to be trashed now. Plans seem to be for a foot-pedal device. I will of course do the hamster-in-a-wheel mod.

Re:OMG THE SICKENING COLOR! :)

[shreevatsa]

Oh, you're speaking of the laptops. I thought you were speaking about Slashdot.

It has to be said....

[penguin_dance]

Yay, now that Nigerian prince can email me directly!