OLPC can now run Windows increases price
If you aren’t familiar with the One Laptop Per Child project (OLPC) it began at MIT in order to provide low-cost laptops to children of developing nations at no cost to the them, the governments would of course have to buy and provide the units. The project has taken a turn for the worse with a slightly higher than expected price tag with some added capabilities so it’s not all bad however this was supposed to be all about a low price.
The OLPC features a 500MHz AMD Geode processor, 256MB of memory, a 1GB flash hard drive, wireless connectivity and a 7.5” display capable of both color modes and high contrast black and white mode for use in direct sunlight with a resolution of 1200 x 900. The operating system is a customized version of a Fedora-core based Linux; it’s certainly no powerhouse that much is for sure. It was originally set to cost $100 but now the price is $175 with the capability to run Windows, though which version was not mentioned. Submit to the rule of Microsoft, repent, repent, repent!
Note to be outdone, Intel decided to come up with the Classmate (formerly EduWise) laptop to compete with the OLPC. It features a Celeron M processor at 900MHz, a 7” 800 x 480 display, 256MB of DDR2 memory, 1GB of flash memory, 802.11b/g, GM915 graphics and various other amenities but runs an embedded version of Windows XP. It is set to cost around $400.
I’m not impressed with either offering, maybe these governments should consider buying off-lease, second hand or refurbished laptops in the $400 range and I know for a fact that it can be done just look at the offerings here so it’s possible and dare I say they are far more powerful than either the Classmate PC or the OLPC.
I realize it’s about providing technology to the developing world but they aren’t going to get much done with those laptops… I guess all they really need is basic internet access. Still, I feel it’s quite limiting, there isn’t much space to download files or organize a music collection but I doubt very much they would be doing that.
Taken in context and for the purposes they were designed for, they aren’t that bad but I can’t do that, I can’t imagine what it’s like to be from a developing country and I really have a hard time putting myself in their shoes but if I were then maybe getting internet access wouldn’t be foremost on my mind.
It’s been rumored that it will be released in developed nations at a slightly higher cost so you can get your children a laptop they can bang around and introduce them to the world of computing… unless you want them banging around your $2,500 MacBook Pro.
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April 30th, 2007
now instead of 1 laptop per child, it has become 1 laptop per 1.75 child. i simply don’t get the idea of providing laptops to children of the third world when they still lack the basic needs – medicine, food, lodging… the money would be better used for something else, anyway, what use is a computer without internet? who is going to pay for their internet access?
April 30th, 2007
Those are all valid points. You’re right about the food and lodging, I don’t have that answer but as far as internet access, if by some miracle one laptop can connect then the other laptops will be able to use the connected laptop as an access point provided it is in range.
But, someone has to pay for it and I’m betting it won’t be the government of any of those countries but some may bite.
May 1st, 2007
You might be interested in an opensource alternative put out by Ink Media.