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$12 MIT Computer Based On NES, Not Apple II

Posted by timothy on from the different-can-different-beans dept.

ericatcw writes "The $12 computer that a bunch of designers and grad students are talking up at an MIT conference this month as a potential, cheaper alternative to the One Laptop Per Child (OLPC) for Third World students is actually a knockoff of the original Nintendo Entertainment System gaming console released in the mid-1980s, reports Computerworld, and confirmed in a comment by the project's spokesman, Derek Lomas. According to Lomas' account and pictures, the Victor-70 is an 8-bit NES clone that accepts its cartridges and is wholly contained in the keyboard. It is also likely to be an unlicensed clone made in China, according to Lomas, though he notes that may not matter patent-wise in the US, due to the length of time that has passed."

5 of 308 comments (clear)

  1. 250 games in 1! by StreetStealth · · Score: 3, Insightful

    It appears that this is essentially the same setup as those dodgy Chinese handhelds loaded with a bunch of hacked and remixed NES ROMs.

    So why didn't anyone else think of this before? It's perfect; put together this ultra-cheap but still highly programmable hardware with some efficiently-designed educational software, and you've got something that can, despite having a tiny fraction of the OLPC's specs, still make a big, positive impact on kids in the developing world.

    If this project is managed right, it could end up doing the OLPC's mission for it and then some.

    --
    Your mind is clear / The things that you fear / Will fade with how much you / Believe what you hear
  2. What's the story? by RingDev · · Score: 4, Insightful

    Step 1: Rip off 20 year old patented technology
    Step 2: Cram into smaller container
    Step 3: Get MIT guys to give you free press
    Step 4: ???
    Step 5: Profit

    I mean, what's the actual deal here? Some manufacturer in China is producing a miniaturized clone of the Nintendo skipping out on the licensing fees so they can get it to market in the $12 range, MIT students/alumni are smiling at it around a table. So what exactly is MIT doing?

    Is it suddenly dawning on them that if you strip all of the patent protection and licensing from a project that a $100+ chunk of electronics is only $12 worth of components, shipping and handling, and Chinese labor?

    -Rick

    --
    "Most people in the U.S. wouldn't know they live in a tyrannical state if it walked up and grabbed their junk." - MyFirs
    1. Re:What's the story? by glwtta · · Score: 4, Insightful

      Step 1: Rip off 20 year old patented technology

      Why would you consider this a "ripoff"? Patents are granted for 20 years, with the express intention that after that period, the invention can be freely used by others.

      What's bad about this?

      --
      sic transit gloria mundi
  3. Re:Pirate multicart by linzeal · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Copyrights should only last 20 years as well. Lets all just start acting like that is the case.

    --
    An Education is the Font of All Liberty
  4. Re:Seem R&D did not need MIT. It's on sale now by Lemmy+Caution · · Score: 3, Insightful

    Really?

    How much time do you think anyone can or will sit in a computer lab that they are sharing with several dozen other students?

    How much time do you think that someone can spend sitting in front of a video monitor at home?

    The immersed, "deep" learning occurs when one has the luxury of forgetting where the time went. In a resource-strapped school in a developing country, that's not the computer lab.

    There are those of us who learned to program in more primitive environments than these - and we learned to program a little "closer to the metal."