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$100 LAPTOP! WHERE'S MINE? |
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Written by Adam Gosling
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Friday, 30 September 2005 |
An initiative that could revolutionise the social and economic landscape of underdeveloped countries is being championed by Nicholas Negroponte of MIT’s Media Lab.
The MIT Media Lab has launched a new research initiative to develop a $100 laptop via a new, non-profit association, One Laptop per Child (OLPC). The goal of the organisation is to provide affordable laptop computers to students in countries such as China, Brazil, Thailand, and Egypt.
A prototype of the proposed device which will feature a 500MHz AMD processor, 1GB of memory and no disk will be ready this year, but the group doesn’t anticpate getting the devices manufactured for at least another year.
The group hopes to manufacture and distribute up to 150 million of the devices.
By eliminating the cost of sales, marketing, distribution and profit the Media Lab believes it can price the laptops at US$100 for sale to Government educators in third-world countries. The group will also negotiate on financing.
Negroponte says lowering the cost of the display is a key factor in building the devices. Initially the Lab will use a specification for a US$35 full colour screen that will switch to mono in high glare environments. Ultimately though MIT believes it can get the price of an LCD display down as low as US$15.
The other factoring building the device for such a low cost, says Negroponte is to “get the fat out of the systems. Today's laptops have become obese. Two-thirds of their software is used to manage the other third, which mostly does the same functions nine different ways.”
The Linux-based machine will have built-in mesh networking, WiFi and cell phone capabilities and will have a crank handle for when there’s no electricity supply. An AC power cord will also double as a carry strap.
Organizationally, MIT will work with a small number of companies of complementary skills to develop a fully working and manufactured laptop (50,000 to 100,000 units) in fewer than 12 months, with an eye on building about 100 million to 200 million units by the following year. Five initial companies who have committed to this project are AMD, Brightstar, Google, News Corporation, and Red Hat. MIT will also work with the not-for-profit company One Laptop per Child (OLPC), as well as with the 2B1 Foundation.
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