Geekin’ out on the $100 Laptop (OLPC)
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My friends are all over the map in terms of their opinions of the “$100 laptop” computer by the One Laptop Per Child [OLPC] project. They range from those who think it’s a total scam and rip-off (no link - anonymous for now) to those who are actively seeking to produce software for the computer.
But I was pointed at a really good “review” article today entitled The Laptop Crusade - Nicholas Negroponte’s $100 laptop is a sweet piece of engineering. But can it really change the world? By Tekla S. Perry in IEEE Spectrum online. It’s worth reading. [The picture at the left is the Sugar interface that kids will use to operate the computer and discover their communities.]
You may already know that my opinion is that the OLPC computer:
- Will actually work, and will be useful as a communications platform;
- Be somewhat “fragile” in the field, and difficult to keep operating;
- Cost more than $200 because nobody’s counting the cost of shipping, deploying and making it operational in the field.
All in all, I am positive about its potential and think that it’s worth tracking as the story unfolds.
