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The <$100 Laptop

  
  

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grant
17:14 / 30.09.05
Got this in my email today, but it's originally from the BBC.

Nicholas Negroponte, the chairman of MIT's Media Labs (and the non-profit group One Laptop Per Child) has created a laptop that could revolutionize the world.

It's covered in rubber (durable), uses a hand-crank for power (off the grid), has an AC adaptor that doubles as a strap, uses flash memory in place of a hard drive (no moving parts=longer lasting), comes ready for wireless connectivity, has four USB ports, a 500 MHz processor, dual display monitor (color and bright, hi-res B/W) and runs Linux.

And it costs less than $100.


His big idea:

> Children in Brazil, China, Egypt, Thailand, and
> South Africa will be
> among the first to get the under-$100 (£57)
> computer, said Professor
> Negroponte at the Emerging Technologies
> conference at MIT.
>
> The following year, Massachusetts governor Mitt
> Romney plans to start
> buying them for all 500,000 middle and high
> school pupils in the state.
>
> Professor Negroponte predicts there could be
> 100 million to 150 million
> shipped every year by 2007.
>


Google is one of his sponsors. He says he got the idea when he saw the difference a few donated laptops made to a bunch of Cambodian schoolchildren.

He's only planning to sell them en masse, and hopes that the >$100 price tag is low enough for most developing nations.

It's nice to be reminded, sometimes, that the Information Revolution really *is* a revolution.


Here's Negroponte's site. It's already creating a buzz online -- TechNewsWorld says he's aiming at a November launch.
 
 
sleazenation
18:54 / 30.09.05
And he's not the only one either - as the BBC report points out, other companies and groups have already developed similar machines for the same purpose.

This is the kind of thing that genuinely excites me about technology and engineering - creating elegant and important technological solutions to genuine societal needs. It reminds me of the distribution of the clockwork radio.

Particularly significant to me seems the, presumably clockwork, manual power charging system. It seems to be incredibly useful application that could potentially help reduce domestic energy consuption...
 
 
All Acting Regiment
19:47 / 30.09.05
A brilliant idea all round. As well as Sleaze's point about energy, it should also make it possible for these underpriviledged people to communicate with and put pressure on their authorities/the developed world.
 
 
quixote
03:11 / 08.10.05
This thing is brilliant. I want one. And not only is the hardware brilliant, it's all open source software (Linux, etc).
 
 
sleazenation
08:21 / 08.10.05
Well, the opensourceness of it all is part of what makes it so cheap. An interesting side effect of this is that in developing countries that really heavily buy inthese cheap computers, vast swathes of the population will be more familiar with Linux, and fixing linux, than will be familiar with microsoft products. Linux will reach a vast untapped talent pool of programmers who were previously unable to afford a computer...
 
 
diz
09:06 / 08.10.05
Particularly significant to me seems the, presumably clockwork, manual power charging system. It seems to be incredibly useful application that could potentially help reduce domestic energy consuption...

They sell handcranked cellphone chargers already in the US at least. I've known some people who had them.
 
 
daynah
01:44 / 09.10.05
Wait, I'm missing a click point. It's wi-fi ready, right... but I have to pay for wi-fi. How are they going to afford that? Did I overlook something blatantly obvious, 'cause I feel like I did...
 
 
quixote
01:54 / 09.10.05
I think I remember seeing something about the governments intending to supply free wifi, although it does seem out of character for most governments on the planet. Either way, that would be the logical solution. Wifi doesn't have to be expensive to set up. Remember some of the early neighborhood set with integrated Pringle's cans?
 
 
grant
02:21 / 09.10.05
Wi-fi = minimal infrastructure. No laying of phone wires.

Just, basically, a radio station.
 
 
quixote
20:58 / 09.10.05
Some slightly less hopeful news from someone who knows, but nothing fatal. Ethan Zuckerman, a computer professional and geek, likes the laptop and the idea, but has some valid criticisms at his blog, My Heart's in Accra. Two of the main points: cost of displays is a technical sticking point, and lack of perceived usefulness of computers is a social one. He points out that cell phones don't suffer from the latter, so I think the tack to take might be to make the thing more phone-like (takes care of some of the display issues by making the display smaller), with a slide-out keyboard that enables it to be a computer when needed.
 
 
grime
18:02 / 11.10.05
sure it's a great idea, but no one mentioned how good it looks! the design of the laptop is really beautiful and the way it's put together makes it very flexible and mult-use.

just check out the MIT link above.
 
 
Perfect Stranger
08:38 / 12.10.05
I assume you think that making a cheap computer for developing nations is going to help them or something? You heard the phase 'a sticking plaster on a gaping wound'?

I spent some years studing international development and no matter what you do on the micro scale you have to remember the macro equasion. 1/3 of the planet uses 2/3 of the planets resources and manpower. For the whole planet to have a 'developed' nation lifestyle we would need two planets to exploit. Better get out there and find a new one eh?
 
 
Less searchable M0rd4nt
08:45 / 12.10.05
But nobody's talking about somehow introducing a "developed world" lifestyle to every individual in the developing world. This thread is about a cheap way to improve education and prospects for people in developing nations. Are you saying that access to the enormous quantities of information avaliable on the internet won't help? If so, perhaps you could flesh out your criticisms a little, perhaps making reference to some of the resources linked to in this thread?
 
 
Perfect Stranger
13:36 / 12.10.05
Yeah sorry, I understand, it's just that I spent years thinking about technilogical/industrial/scientific solutions to the worlds problems and feel a bit fustrated by it all.

What I said was the kind of rebuke I give myself to remind me that it's not going to solve the overall problem in itself.
 
 
Perfect Stranger
16:26 / 12.10.05
Actualy, I decided I would like to explain myself if thats ok. Right so, lets have another swing at this...

Firstly I assume that we're grooving on the social/developmental implications of this technology rather than just it's tech specs, right?

Linux: great, I mean we all want to get away from the Microsoft monopoly and the intellectual copyright charges which forever put their software out of reach from developing nations:

Hand-crank: well although my firsthand experience with hand-cranked technology left me a bit cold; we're at least thinking along the right lines. A barrel of oil for your powergrid costs the same on the global market no matter who you are. If your GDP is low you can’t afford much powergrid for your county, end of story.

Wi-fi ready: well as somebody pointed out this function would probably be of limited use in a lot of developing counties, you still need enough powergrid to run the base station and connect it to the exchange etc, then you have to charge that back to the users presumably. Software, hardware, firmware; the intellectual copyright charged at 1st world rates, makes wireless WAN expensive. A lot of China or Brazil already has land lines, this technology really isn't going to be much use to the lower end of the market (the Marsh Arabs and Bushmen of the world).

So, will this enable the people of the developing world to tap into the internet, will it improve their education? Yes it will do both these things for some of them, but will this do anything to alleviate their poverty, to ease their suffering or are we just lining MIT's pockets whilst pretending to be the good guys?

The thing is we're always being told that some new piece of genetic engineering will feed the world. Some new anti-viral research will cure the common cold, that we'll never need a better processor than the 486 on a microcomputer (nice one Bill). However we've had the ability to feed the world for 30 years now and there are still people starving to death. First world nations have almost eliminated malaria but it's one of the biggest killers world-wide, still Bill Gates donated 30M to malaria research, in my opinion that’s just lip service, just a PR exercise.

It doesn’t really matter how educated or aware the people of developing nations are as long as the global economic system which blocks imports of manufactured goods and food to Europe and America holds sway. The system which says one hour of my time is worth $22 USD, an Indians is worth $5 and a Chinese persons is worth 15 cents. The system which backs up the monopolies held by international pharmaceutical companies, software houses and oil cartels is making all the decisions.

I'm saying all this not 'cause I'm playing devils advocate, or I'm a luddite or I'm trying to impress you with how leftfield I am. I'm saying this because I really care about the future of life on this planet (as I believe many of you do) and I'm worried that you guys are getting stuck in a honey-trap designed to attract well meaning people. It's like those middle-class fools who think they are going to save Africa by sending them goats, it just keeps you happily spinning your wheels in the mud while the things that really matter go on unchallenged. Which is what I meant by a 'plaster on a gaping wound'. Christ knows how long I spend designing low-cost housing projects and industrial ‘boot-up’ routines before I found that the investment companies get a better return on pet phamaciticuls than 3rd world development.

I'm not saying, "I'm right, you're wrong", just please add this train of thought to your arsenal.

One thing I must say in favour of the internet being distributed to developing nations though; in the past the discrepancy between the rich and the poor inside of a country has forced social change. For example Russia & China's socialist revolutions, UK's welfare state in the early 20th century or even the American civil war. Now with social globalisation and the internet we are no longer bound by nationality with regard to who our peers are, where we get our news, our information. So perhaps bringing the internet to the poorest counties will help put the spotlight of the disparity of wealth between nations rather than just within nations.

However I think we are going to have to come to terms with the fact we are dealing with an intelligent system which is motivated towards gathering as much wealth among as few people as possible.

The future is bright, the future is Red comrades!
 
 
Lugue
18:04 / 12.10.05
Sure, there are more urgent matters at hand, yes, but does the fact that better things could be done invalidate the fact that a potentially good thing is being done...?

It might be due only to distraction, but I don't really think anyone has so far suggested this is the best thing ever and the cure of all problems; rather, a valuable resource which will, on some (but obviously enough, not all) levels help people that live with complications which keep them from accessing said resource...

And then, there's the whole "evil capitalist!" angle, and I'm not even coming close to that, essentially because I'm not familiar enough with the entities involved to pass that kind of judgement.

Personally, I'm not insanely excited because... well, I have my own bizarre, illogical issues with technology, but from my mostly ignorant standpoint, it does seem a great way of giving a number of people a wonderful chance at, well, information, really. And other sexy advantages which I'm not that currently aware of out of braindeadness and unfamiliarity, I'm guessing.
 
 
grime
19:08 / 12.10.05
re: wifi
Cellphones in Africa

hope this link works. it should lead you to an article in the times about the booming use of cellphones in africa. appearently dudes are throwing up towers however they can to capitilize on a huge market for cheap cellphone usage. great for countries with inadequate or expensive infrastructure . . . like land lines. it's just technology, but it seems to help a great deal with running (very) small businesses, not to mention the obvious communication / time-saving and orginizational benefits.

if you can do this, would wifi be a lot harder?
 
 
quixote
01:15 / 13.10.05
Phones, wifi, computers, actually do have a direct beneficial effect that helps counteract poverty. For instance, from 360 degrees of sky: life in rural Zambia: (A great blog, worth reading from beginning to end.)

"Phones ruddy well are essential if you live out in the bush. And who is she to make such a decision? [talking about an obstructionist customs agent who said some shipped phones were a luxury item.] If a community member has access to a phone they can call town to check what price produce is going for, if there is a demand, ask someone to help them transport their goods, so they can sell it, so they can pay school fees and buy clothes for their children."

Information is money and/or power, in some cases. So yes, just the mere fact of having access to a technology that provides information can be useful.

(Also, I agree with the person above who said MIT's $100 laptop looks good. As I said, I want one!)
 
 
Char Aina
02:43 / 18.10.05
The system which says one hour of my time is worth $22 USD, an Indians is worth $5 and a Chinese persons is worth 15 cents.

that same system could well end up being the developing world's strongest weapon in the global fight for economic dominance/survival. globalisation has made the cheapness of indian graduate workers a viable option for many companies, for example.
i have spoken with several people in a position to allocate resopurces and funding for large commercial projects, and precious few of them feel that there is any need to have a british workforce outside a small headquarters. it sees british workers are more expensive, less easily pleased and lazier than their friends in the countries of the former empire, and therefore less attractive as an option.
indians often speak better english too, one chap told me.

giving people access to this technology is going to increase the level of education and, importantly, computer savvy among these cheap workers.
why hire a programmer who charges you thousands when someone will for it for hundreds, or even tens, for example?

The system which backs up the monopolies held by international pharmaceutical companies, software houses and oil cartels is making all the decisions.

i agree.
those decisions are made based upon profitability and little else. if it is profitable to use a cheap workforce, they will. i reckon it will be.



one thing i notice;
the internet is being mentioned an awful lot. i do feel that the internet is a great learning tool and a great information sharing tool. it would certainly help folks understand who is doing what on the globalstage, a factor that will trigger massive change in my opinion.

the thing is, you dont need ubiquitous internet for computers to be useful. there are internet cafes all over africa where folks can get occasional access, and having your own laptop to download stuff onto will make these more popular and more useful.

also, one can distribute 1000 CDs more easily than 1000 books. that is definitely going to make education easier.

couple that with the inevitable rise of third world IT experts challenging our own with their lower income expectations and similar skill levels and we could be looking at something big.

its certainly a step forward from my big fear; that someone like bill gates would introduce some kinda 'computers for africa' program that involved free systems and pay-per-use software.
MIT seem to be giving something that could run for years on only that initial 100 bucks.
it could certainly be worse.
 
 
Char Aina
03:35 / 18.10.05
from the MIT FAQ
What about connectivity? Aren't telecommunications services expensive in the developing world?

When these machines pop out of the box, they will make a mesh network of their own, peer-to-peer. This is something initially developed at MIT and the Media Lab. We are also exploring ways to connect them to the backbone of the Internet at very low cost.

so they might not have internet, but they will be sharing information locally.
personally i find the sharing of ideas with my peer group the best thing about my computer, and it sound like as good a place as any to start the developing world.
it seems to me there would also be the potential for linking the entire network with one or two broadcast points if the PCs were close enough and sufficently numerous.
 
 
grant
18:37 / 17.11.05
They've been unveiled at a UN meeting. (More on that here.)

I gotta say, they look really cool. I mean from a design standpoint. And you can swivel the screen back 270 degrees or so.
 
 
Dead Megatron
20:51 / 17.11.05
Mark my words: this cheap laptop with wifi is going to change te face of the world as we know it. This is the true informatic revolution coming. And, when the internet is finally "liberated" from USA control, we the poor masses of the world will come back with a vengeance.

it's not gonna solve all the problems of mankind, but it's certainly gonna make them a lot easier to fight.
 
 
sleazenation
22:53 / 17.11.05
But there is a catch - the MIT backed version, the one that was unveiled at the UN i think, needs massive orders to be placed by third world governments before they will start manufacturing. The problemn is that third world governments are pretty poor and while <$100 sounds like a bargain in the west, it represents a significant chunk of GDP per capita for many of the poorest nations. These governments have to choose between things like immuniztions programmes and teachers and schools and equipment and laptops... These things are by no means a panacea.

What I'd Like to see is the project underwritten by consumers in the west - these laptops sound great and could be sold for $100 or more in the west to get production underway and possibly even subsurdise sales to African nations...
 
 
semioticrobotic
00:16 / 18.11.05
It looks like Steve Jobs offered free copies of OSX for the project, but his offer was declined because the OS isn't open source. A bold and generous move, however.
 
 
sleazenation
09:23 / 18.11.05
Bold and generous? Not in any way linked to building a market for your software in developing nations?
 
 
grant
13:26 / 18.11.05
Bearing in mind that the project is selling these in lots of ONE MILLION COMPUTERS, I have to say both sleaze and megatron are right -- it's going to change the world (as soon as gov'ts start ponying up the cash).

I heard Brazil was already in, but I don't know if that's been substantiated.

The fact that they're giving Linux to one million new users at a time is also going to have a BIG effect on the way platforms work, I think. Linux is going to mutate like crazy. This could kill Windows in 20 years.
 
 
Char Aina
17:33 / 18.11.05
in lots of one million?
that price doesnt seem so miraculous anymore.

100 million dollars doesnt sound like something any of the developing nations i am familiar with could afford, and thats ignoring the infrastructure to distribute them and make sure they dont just get stolen for sale on the black market.

hm.
its gonna take some countries teaming up, and how.
the oau might be a better sale than any country in africa.

And, when the internet is finally "liberated" from USA control, we the poor masses of the world will come back with a vengeance.

agreed.
except on one point...
are 'we' really the poor masses?
its just that we all have internet access already, and the time to use it to visit barbelith...
sounds quite wealthy to me.


What I'd Like to see is the project underwritten by consumers in the west - these laptops sound great and could be sold for $100 or more in the west to get production underway and possibly even subsurdise sales to African nations...

could they get away with selling them for 200, do you think?
buy one, africa gets one free, sorta thing?
a $200 laptop is still pretty cheap.
 
 
lekvar
18:56 / 18.11.05
I'm most interested in the "swarm network" aspect of this. I've been wondering how long it was going to take, in this era of wireless technology, for an ad-hoc internet-of-the-people to arise. With the ubiquity of wifi in the developed world I would have imagined local access-point internets would crop up in the same way BBSes arose in the late 80's-early 90's, but it looks like the developing nation will lead the way on this front.

My first thought, though, is of one of the early chapters in Count Zero. Bobby Chase is told that the term Wilson referred to a hacker that made his mark not by attacking the big multinationals but by sweeping through the bank accounts the third world. Sure, Linux is stable and secure, but 1 million potential targets is going to be awfully tempting for the Black Hats.
 
 
Dead Megatron
20:18 / 18.11.05
I heard Brazil was already in, but I don't know if that's been substantiated.

The fact that they're giving Linux to one million new users at a time is also going to have a BIG effect on the way platforms work, I think. Linux is going to mutate like crazy. This could kill Windows in 20 years.


I'm form Brazil, and I can say our government has been talking for years of "digital inclusion" (ie, free internet + cheap PCs), so, yeah, we're theoretically in. Of course, polititians always talk a lot more than they talk, so let's see

Oh, and toksic, you're right, we are not the poor masses of the world, they are still with no digital voice. I was being sarcastic with that comment, and I could just as easily say "we, the raging hordes of ragged barbarians which came to destroy society and civilization as we know it". We are more close to the middle-class masses of the world, but you know, I'm cool with it.
 
 
Dead Megatron
20:20 / 18.11.05
Oh, and "mutate like crazy" sounds obscenely fun, for me...
 
 
quixote
00:19 / 19.11.05
free internet . . . and the world will change. (Paraphrase. Don't remember it exactly.)

True, everything would change with a widely available free internet. One of the really sad things to come out of the argument against US control is that the people pushing that are not the "ragged masses." It's the Chinese and Iranian governments and their ilk. In the name of liberating the web for everyone, their agenda seems to be to control their corner of it. The jerks. At that rate, we may be better off with ICANN running things under US auspices for a while longer, until the old fogeys have died out or been shaken off.
 
 
Our Lady Has Left the Building
14:23 / 19.11.05
This was mentioned on Newsnight during the week and the more Miss Toothy FixedGrin from MIT talked and the more some guy from on of the many African aid agencies talked the more I became doubtful how useful this is.

I just know I'm going to express this badly but I'll try anyway. I'm dubious about how useful a computer, even a wind-up one, is going to be to the poorest of the poor. People that have something which could barely be called a house, the kids don't go to a school because the public infrastructure doesn't exist and if it wasn't their parents couldn't spare them because they need them to work on the farm. Is a computer really that useful to these people. Even if it's free access to the Internet (and I must admit, there's a bitter little part of me saying "why do they get free Internet when I have to pay?") is it going to be useful to them?

Where I think it starts to become more useful is to people a few rungs up the social ladder, who have homes or rented accomodation, who have kids that do go to school but the school doesn't have the textbooks it needs to teach the classes. I'm not convinced that computers help those who have nothing, but can help to bolster those who have a little.

I'm probably prejudiced because the way Ms. FixedGrin presented it, giving a wind-up computer to Africans would save them from hardship, famine and political unrest, and the more the African Aid guy said that they wouldn't, the larger and more forced her grin got.

I think it's a fantastic little invention, and it's great they're trying to do something to make the world better, I'm just not sure that this will do what they hope to achieve.
 
 
Char Aina
16:05 / 19.11.05
Even if it's free access to the Internet (and I must admit, there's a bitter little part of me saying "why do they get free Internet when I have to pay?") is it going to be useful to them?

yes.
one example?
AIDS education is necessary and as yet undersupplied in many develping regions.
part of the problem(and the inspiration behind the baygen radio) is the distinct lack of communication.
we would know if the whole of britain was awash with a disease probably before it was because we would see it on the news, read about it in the paper, hear about it on the radio, or find out about it online.

wind-up radio made disemination of infromation much more feasible in an environment where there is no TV in most homes and where a newspaper is seen as a ridiculous luxury by some.

i can imagine that there could be a similar effect from affordable and reliable computers that dont need a power supply.


not every person will be able to take advantage of this learning aid. for one thing, it will require access to a distribution infrastructure to recieve them.

it will mean more to those for whom school is available and all but useless than to those who have nothing whatsoever.
it might, however, mean a boost to the coutries' economies that will eventually result in better education sytems being put in place.

it is just a tool, sure.
its a fucking wicked one, though.

there is real potential here, i reckon.

who else thinks that we might need a few billionaire philanthropists about now?
ones with no angle would be nice.
 
 
alejandrodelloco
17:19 / 19.11.05
there's a bitter little part of me saying "why do they get free Internet when I have to pay?"

Free community and municipal Wi-Fi networks have been popping up all over the developed world these days. Wikipedia has a list of community wireless networks that are free. The thing is, free access where it hasn't existed at all is sometimes easier to create than free access where there is a capitalist model already in place. Verizon has been pushing very hard against Philadelphia's municipal Wi-Fi program. I welcome this kind of thing all over the place. Free up the inter nets!

Oh, another cool thing from this article: Since many villages in the poor world do not have electricity, the machines may be powered by either a crank or "parasitic power"--that is, typing.

The thing will (using piezeoelectrics I suppose) draw energy from typing. That is so cool. Why on earth can't american companies be this energy-concious and add stuff like this?
 
 
quixote
18:48 / 20.11.05
Energy from typing? Brilliant!

Re: what's the point when they don't even have food / clean water / (fill in the blank)? One of the more striking news items I read from Oxfam (?) years ago talked about questions they asked some villagers in the Sudan about what sort of help they needed most. Clean water? Oxfam wanted to know. Food? Latrines? Medicine? The villagers' answer was, "Schools."

So we don't necessarily know what poor people need most. The $100 laptop will find its uses, even if they're not something already foreseen.
 
  

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