The MIT Media Lab has launched a new research initiative to develop a $100 laptop—a technology that could revolutionize how we educate the world’s children. To achieve this goal, a new, non-profit association, One Laptop per Child (OLPC), has been created. The initiative was first announced by Nicholas Negroponte, Lab chairman and co-founder, at the World Economic Forum at Davos, Switzerland in January 2005.
U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan will unveil the first working prototype of the $100 laptop tonight at the World Summit on the Information Society in Tunis, Tunisia. Annan will be joined by Nicholas Negroponte, chairman and co-founder of the Media Lab at MIT, in presenting the laptop to the gathering.
WHAT DOES THIS GADGET OFFER?
The proposed design of the machines calls for a 500MHz processor, 1GB of memory and an innovative dual-mode display that can be used in full-color mode, or in a black-and-white sunlight-readable mode. The display makes the laptop both an electronic book and a laptop.There is no Hard Disk,optical or floppy disk drive.
The machines, which will run a version of the Linux operating system, will also include other applications, some developed by MIT researchers, as well as country-specific software
For connectivity, the systems will be Wi-Fi(802.11b)- and cell phone-enabled, and will include four USB ports, along with built-in “mesh networking” a peer-to-peer concept that allows machines to share a single Internet connection.
Intel’s Chairman openly criticized this concept.At a press conference in Sri Lank,he insisted that there will not be a market for this device.Barnett argued that the computer’s features are more important than price.So,are we entirely to dismiss Barnett?Perhaps,perhaps not.History has shown that attempts to bring computers to the poor are likely to fail.There’s the simputer designed in india,of which we all have been hearing about for a long time-but of which nothing seems to materialise.AMD has not sold many of its cheap internet devices-the personal internet communicators-for the developing world.
But,history has also taught us that some bad ideas meet with wild success and some great ideas fall flat.
The $100 laptop could turn out to be a good idea that works.After all,it’s targeted at students.