Nicholas Negroponte, head of MIT Media Lab
One Laptop Per Child aims at $50 price tag
/v3-uk/news/1959090/one-laptop-per-child-aims-usd50-price-tag
05 Apr 2006, Tom Sanders at Linuxworld in Boston , V3
The One Laptop Per Child project hopes to lower the cost of its laptop for developing nations to $50 by 2010, Nicholas Negroponte said in the opening keynote at the LinuxWorld conference in Boston.
The first units are scheduled to ship in December this year or January next year at an estimated cost of $135 per unit. Technological advances are expected to bring down costs to $100 by 2008 and $50 by 2010, Negroponte told delegates.
One Laptop Per Child is supported by the United Nations and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, where Negroponte heads up the Media Lab.
It hopes to ship five to 10 million units in 2007 to Argentina, Brazil, China, Egypt, India, Nigeria and Thailand.
The project was kicked off in January 2005. Although the technology is the most visible aspect, the project is not about creating low-cost hardware, according to Negroponte.
"The $100 laptop is an education project, not a laptop project. The motivation is to eliminate poverty," he said.
Scale is key to getting a low cost laptop, he claimed, because it creates a market for the low end hardware that is needed for the project.
Working with computers, and especially programming, helps children to structure their thinking, Negroponte argued, because a single programming error can cause an application to fail.
Providing each child with a laptop therefore empowers them to advance their education in addition to investments in schools and teachers.
Investing in more schools and teachers "is not going to solve it fast enough ", according to Negroponte.
"You've got to leverage the children," he said. "The children have to be part of their own education much more than they have in those parts of the world."
Negroponte is aiming for the device to feature a dual-mode display that combines a backlit display used in Western laptops and monochrome LCD display using sunlight such as the ones deployed in pocket calculators.
The technology does not currently exist, but should be ready by July or August this year, Negroponte predicted.
The laptop will feature a 500MHz AMD processor, a 7in screen and built in radio Wi-Fi wireless networking. A wind-up crank will provide power.
While initial designs had the crank integrated into the laptop, the project has since decided to move it to the power adapter.
Microsoft and Intel have publicly criticised the project, claiming that it is wrongly focusing on the cost of the hardware.
Negroponte hit back at the two companies. "When you have Intel and Microsoft on your case, you know you're doing something right," he said.
© Incisive Media Investments Limited 2010, Published by Incisive Financial Publishing Limited, Haymarket House, 28-29 Haymarket, London SW1Y 4RX, are companies registered in England and Wales with company registration numbers 04252091 & 04252093
Do you agree?
One Graphing Calculator Per Student
From One Laptop Per Child (OLPC) to One Graphing Calculator Per Student (OGCPS)
One Graphing Calculator Per Student
http://wiki.laptop.org/wiki/OGCPS
Tea Vui Huang's TVH-72g Graphing Calculator for Mobile Phones
http://teavuihuang.com/tvh-72g
Posted by Tea Vui Huang, 05 Apr 2006
Titleless
Has anyone actually read this article?
How is giving out 10 million laptops going to eliminate poverty? It's just going to give some children a cheep laptop they won't be able to fully use.
These children can't afford a computer now, what makes them think they can afford software for it. Or the internet to download free software? It'll just be a Linux OS which can be a PAIN to use if you are not technogically inclined (Which their target audience isn't)?
I don't think this is well thought out. Give a child a laptop, now he can type something in his word processor (Can't print it because there isn't a printer), and not hand it in to his teacher because he can't afford to go to school anyways.
Posted by Douglas, 06 Apr 2006
Re: Titleless
@Titleless:
They don't need to print their homework. They can email it. The cost of setting up WiFi in developing countries is pennies compared to building a wired infrastructure. And as for the argument that it won't help them beat poverty... technology is the best chance they've got. Do you have a better suggestion?
Posted by Alan Berman, 06 Apr 2006
It's about opportunity
This laptop isn't about poverty, it's about opportunity. It may not have a hard drive, but it has something better, built in wireless connectivity. With this a child can access the internet and all the educational resources available on it. Not every child will take advantage of it, but many will including their parents. This will have an enormous impact on literacy and numeracy. I think this project would be better served by changing the name from "One Laptop per Child" to "One Web Browser per Child".
Posted by pineapple, 07 Apr 2006
Do or let others
What is so wrong with this company trying to help others.Stop and think, what have you done to really make the world a better place ? If we would each ask ourselfs this question we wouldn't be so quick to judge others. These people are trying to help others, you either s**t or get of the throne. You want to critisize something really wrong and dishonest, George Bush and the republicans.
Posted by Manny, 08 Apr 2006
IT' s An Excellent Idea
IT' s An Excellent Idea
I'm a Sri Lankan Teacher who is an in-charge of an IT Lab of a school in the Western Province( St.Anne's B.M.V,Wattala,Sri Lanka)
I belive the idea is an excellent one for the development of rual children and to reduce the digital devide in Sri Lanka.
My Students are interested in buying 100 dollar lap tops.
Please be kind enough to send us further infomation.
Thank you.
Nishan Rohitha
(ST.Anne's B.M.V-Wattala,Sri Lanka)
e-mail -nishananusha69@yahoo.com
Posted by Nishan Rohitha, 14 Dec 2006