Slashdot Mirror
2nd Generation "$100 Laptop" Will Be an E-Book Reader
waderoush writes "At a conference sponsored by the One Laptop Per Child Foundation this morning, OLPC founder unveiled the design for the foundation's second-generation laptop. It's actually not a laptop at all — it's a dual-screen e-book reader (we've got pictures). Negroponte said the foundation hopes that the cost of the new device, which is scheduled for production by 2010, can be kept to $75, in part by using low-cost displays manufactured for portable DVD players."
"Negroponte says the cost of this 2nd-generation device, which uses dual-touch screens with 16:9 aspect ratios, will be kept to $75."
The plan is $75. That doesn't mean it's any more realistic than the original $100 goal for the XO-1. I'd be surprised if they could get it below $150 at launch. The only way $75 is possible is if companies are donating hardware to it.
eclecti.cc
Because it's shaped like a book, it must be a book, right?
This is not a book. It's, I imagine, going to have an x86 cpu and an OS capable of running Activities already written for the XO-1, plus anything else imaginable.
Negroponte's presentation showed two kids playing pong on one laptop and suggested the same could be done with games like chess or checkers, as one example. It is a laptop with two touchscreen displays, which is nothing short of amazing.
eclecti.cc
Oh, I see where the confusion was. As usual, the Slashdot headline and summary are at best vague, and more likely completely misleading. There is better information here: http://blog.laptopmag.com/first-look-olpc-xo-generation-20.
That article also contains the news that Give 1 Get 1 will be restarting in August or September.
eclecti.cc
You can't take the sky from me...
Despite all the knee-jerk reactions (including the author of the article) to this being a glorified e-Book... it is NOT. It is clearly much more than that
It is a functional laptop in an eBook-like shell. Just look at the pictures. There is a pic of a kid holding the thing like a laptop with a virtual keyboard on the bottom display, and a game being played on the top display. This indicates that it has much more than eBook capabilities, and likely incorporates multi-touch capability.
No it is clear evidence that the momentum for Windows can't be ignored
Windows has no momentum, it is an obstacle. Vista is a joke. People are sticking with XP. Macintosh is starting to out-sell Wintell on high end desktops.
The *only* reason Windows hasn't been abandoned by its disgruntled users is because of Microsoft's continued illegal actions in maintaining its monopoly. All too many users say "I hate it, but have to use Windows."
There is *no* practical reason to put Windows on the OLPC. It brings nothing to the table but additional cost. The only purpose for it is to satisfy a vengeful and corrupt monopolist.
Ignore the slashdot headline. Read Mary Lou Jepsen's blog, http://www.pixelqi.com/ for the technical vision.
Mary Lou's vision of the next generation of display technology is:
- Daylight readable
- Color
- Fast enough for video
- Embedded Wireless
- Touchscreen
- Embedded solid-state storage
- Extremely low power (1 watt)
- Embedded battery
- Battery life measured in days, not hours
- Embedded processor
Mary Lou's point is that with a machine like this, who needs a heavy-weight OS? Just about everything one needs on the OS side would already be in the hardware.
These are clearly the ideas behind what Nicholas is describing.
"We receive as friendly that which agrees with, we resist with dislike that which opposes us" - Faraday
I'll put a plug in here for the Distributed Proofreading Project [www.pgdp.net], a volunteer, web-based organization that processes books that have gone into the public domain into e-texts suitable for Project Gutenberg.
It's a great project, and kinda fun (for geeks like us).
Absurdity: A statement or belief manifestly inconsistent with one's own opinion. -- Ambrose Bierce
Actually, the corruption problems (kickbacks from vendors; revolving door hiring policies, etc) are way bigger and more real than creationism or spooky government control. I work in an urban school district, and while creationism might be the textbook problem in Kansas, we spend a ton of money on textbooks recommended by insiders who will later go on to work for the vendors. Needless to say, that $ could go towards other things. The XOXO would be awesome for our district.