MIT Unveils Prototype for $100 Linux Laptop
Published by GadgetSpy October 2nd, 2005 in Gadgets, Laptops, Computing, Communication.
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
What is the $100 Laptop, really?
The proposed $100 machine will be a Linux-based, full-color,
full-screen laptop that will use innovative power (including wind-up)
and will be able to do most everything except store huge amounts of
data. These rugged laptops will be WiFi- and cell phone-enabled, and
have USB ports galore. Its current specifications are: 500MHz, 1GB, 1
Megapixel.
Why do children in developing nations need laptops?
Laptops are both a window and a tool: a window into the world and a tool
with which to think. They are a wonderful way for all children to “learn
learning” through independent interaction and exploration.
How is it possible to get the cost so low?
dramatically lowering the cost of the display. The first-generation
machine may use a novel, dual-mode LCD display commonly found in
inexpensive DVD players, but that can also be used in black and white,
in bright sunlight, and at four times the normal resolution—all at a
cost of approximately $35.
of the systems. Today’s laptops have become obese. Two-thirds of their
software is used to manage the other third, which mostly does the same
functions nine different ways.
laptops in very large numbers (millions), directly to ministries of
education, which can distribute them like textbooks.
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.
What can a $1000 laptop do that the $100 version can’t?
Not much. The plan is for the $100 Laptop to do almost everything. What it will not do is store a massive amount of data.
And unlike the classic computing model in which successive generations of devices get more gadgetry at the same price, Negroponte said his group expects to do the reverse. With such tweaks as “electronic ink” displays that will require virtually no power, the MIT team expects to constantly lower the cost.
After all, in much of the world, Negroponte said, even $100 “is still too expensive.”
A prototype of the laptop will debut in November at the World Summit on the Information Society in Tunis, Tunisia
More coverage of this story available from ITWorld, InformationWeek, BBC, ZDNet, Associated Press
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