Laptops for the World: $100 Each
A group started by MIT’s Nicholas Negroponte has developed a low-cost laptop for children in the world’s developing nations. Target cost: $100 per laptop.
The Vision
Four years ago, Nicholas Negroponte imagined a day when every child in the world would have access to inexpensive computing power for educational purposes. The MIT Media Lab director was not content to leave the idea in his imagination. He took action. He enlisted the help of the open source software community, AMD, Google, Quanta, Red Hat, Nortel, and other manufacturers.
Eventually, Negroponte and his colleagues from the MIT Media Lab rolled the group together in a not-for-profit called One Laptop Per Child (OLPC). The group has also secured support from the United Nations.
Higher Volume, Lower Cost
The result: XO, a functioning educational laptop currently available for $150.00. Negroponte expects manufacturing efficiencies to drive the price below $100 as large quantities of the machine are purchased. Initial shipments will only go to governments that order one million of the machines or more. In an interview with Radio Free Europe, Negroponte says:
We have chosen to launch with countries like those [Libya and Brazil], I’m also talking to Pakistan, Indonesia, the Philippines, and Turkey, and Mexico, but after we launch, then everybody. See, I can’t deal with 100,000 units, somebody comes to me and says, ‘I need 100,000 [laptops].’ All I can say is ‘Wait, if you want a million, I’ll talk to you.’
Costs are held down through intelligent & creative design. The machine is built around a 500MHz AMD processor, 128MB of RAM, 500MB of Flash storage, four USB ports, built-in networking, and a small (but high-resolution) LCD display. Batteries are charged through a wall outlet or by hand. Some models may include a hand crank.
Sugar and Collaboration
The configuration may appear underpowered by American standards, but there are advantages. First, lower power consumption. Second, easy connectivity with other XO PC’s through the built-in WiFi. Third, an entirely new graphical user interface (GUI) called Sugar.
Sugar is a GUI tailored for education and collaboration. In a world where folks expect you to choose Windows or Mac, the OLPC crew has rejected both in favor of “none of the above”. As Negroponte explains in a CNN interview:
… one of the saddest but most common conditions in elementary school computer labs (when they exist in the developing world), is the children are being trained to use Word, Excel and PowerPoint. I consider that criminal, because children should be making things, communicating, exploring, sharing, not running office automation tools.
In other words, with the right platform, kids can learn skills useful in developing the next generation of computers & technology. Skills like creativity and collaboration. An OLPC press release dated 1/3/2007 says that Sugar “promotes collaborative learning through child-to-child and child-to-teacher sharing.”
I think that OLPC is an excellent idea. Teams of highly trained, concerned people have come together to execute well. To the OLPC Team: Well done!
Follow Up Information
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