Slashdot Mirror

← Back to Stories (view on slashdot.org)

Working Model of MIT $100 Laptop a Hit

Posted by ryuzaki0 on from the encheapening dept.

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."

5 of 440 comments (clear)

  1. $130 by mopslik · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Isn't that the $130 laptop? Or did they manage to bring the cost back down?

  2. Just for third world counties? by agent+dero · · Score: 5, Insightful

    This isn't trolling or anything, I am still in American public schooling (public uni.), and this quote struck me as odd.

    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.

    I'm in an engineering degree, and I'm shocked at the lack of this ability in college students at american schools! I'm tickled by the fact that we're so set on helping foreign education, when our own educational system is in dire need of....some bloody education.

    --
    Error 407 - No creative sig found
  3. Re:Food? by Tweekster · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Not everything is about the very bottom of the impoverished ladder.

    This is for children that have overcome the daily quest for food.

    Why do people insist on thinking this is for children that dont have any food and live in ditches.
    Not every poor person falls into that category.

    --
    The phrase "more better" is acceptable English. suck it grammar Nazis
  4. Re:Why just third world? by israel_zayas · · Score: 5, Insightful

    [quote]I know schools here in the US who can't even put a computer on the desk of any of the kids; many share 5 crummy machines between two (or more) classes. There are many places here that could use these things; I don't understand why there is no interest in marketing them right here. It seems like having electronic books would be cheaper/easier too [/quote]

    Forgive me for saying this, but:
    b/c those same kids have PSP's, Ipods and cell phones... If their parents wont buy them a computer why should the public give them one for free.

  5. Re:For the children by timeOday · · Score: 5, Insightful

    The other big thing I see here is a screen that works under sunlight. Why can't I have that on my $3500 Thinkpad?