|
Cheap Laptop For World’s Poor Unveiled
BY GEOFFREY CRAIG
It’s not easy to change the world. But what frustrates Nicholas Negroponte is how long it has taken just to get a crack at it. Nearly three years since presenting his concept of a cheap, sturdy laptop for the poor children of the world, the American techno-visionary announced last month that after numerous delays and setbacks, the so-called “$100 laptop” was ready for release. There was one catch, however: the price tag, which had now climbed to $188.
Not a critical problem, Negroponte assured his critics even before the unveiling of the XO, as the child-friendly machine is now called. Like all technology, economies of scale should quickly bring the price down, he says.
Negroponte was inspired to make computers accessible for the rural poor while visiting a Cambodian village years ago. As his concept evolved, he came to believe that a laptop could be developed for children in countries with limited resources. In January 2005, he announced during the World Economic Forum (WEF) his plan to design and build a $100 laptop, which could be sold to governments, and distributed for free to schoolchildren in developing countries. The following year, Negroponte resigned as head of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology’s Media Lab to focus on One Laptop Per Child (OLPC), the social welfare organization he founded to carry out the XO project.
The OLPC design team began by stripping down a laptop to its bare essentials, and modifying the parts to make them as inexpensive, light and durable as possible. The cost of producing the finished product came in over budget at $188, but despite its slow processor and the absence of any hard drive or CD player, the XO’s innovative design makes it one of the coolest tech devices since the iPod.
The child-sized XO has no moving parts and a durable case able to survive exposure to desert sun or a drop in the drink. Rather than a hard drive, the laptop uses one gigabyte of flash memory. The processor speed is a sluggish 433 MHz, but the XO is extremely energy efficient, consuming just a tenth the power of conventional laptops. Its battery lasts up to 24 hours between charges in its most efficient mode, and can be juiced up by solar-, foot-pump- or pull-string-powered charges.
The screen is a feat of innovation. The 7.5-inch TFT display can be illuminated from within or switched to a “paper mode” that uses reflected light to make it readable like a newspaper. The screen can be rotated, or folded over the keyboard to create a book-like tablet.
Costs were cut by using Linux, an open source operating system, rather than proprietary software. The operating system is small, taking up just 120 megabytes, about a tenth the space of Windows XP.
There is a word processor, PDF reader, media player, chat client and web browser. The XO’s pair of antenna “ears” are able to sniff out a WiFi internet connection and create a mesh network, where each machine acts as both laptop and router. As long as one laptop is connected to the Internet, all others on the network can share the access.
The laptop’s design turned out to be the easy part. The trickier part has been the business side. According to Negroponte, China, India, Brazil, Argentina, Egypt, Nigeria and Thailand initially “committed” to purchases. But oral agreements fizzled and concrete orders did not always follow. “I have met with about 30 heads of state. They’re all enthusiastic. But there’s a huge gulf between a head of state shaking your hand and a minister making a bank transfer,” he was quoted by BusinessWeek magazine as saying.
In an effort to jumpstart sales, Negroponte recently announced the Give One Get One (G1G1) marketing scheme, where US and Canadian residents can purchase two laptops for $399; one laptop will be sent to the buyer, while a child in the developing world will receive the second one. The donated laptops will be sent to children in Cambodia, Afghanistan, Rwanda and Haiti. The first shipments are expected to roll out before the end of the year.
A number of questions still swirl around the program, including which countries will be recipients. The official launch countries include Argentina, Brazil, Libya, Nigeria, Uruguay and Rwanda, each reportedly committed to purchasing one million units. The circumstances surrounding Egypt’s removal from the OLPC’s list of partners remain unclear. The project seems to have dropped off the radar shortly after an OLPC delegation visited Cairo in April 2006, though government officials have never explained why.
Yet even without the $100 laptop, Egyptians might not have to wait long for a truly affordable laptop. Chipmaker Intel has designed its own lightweight, low-cost laptop for children in developing countries. The Classmate PC runs on a faster 900 MHz processor with one gigabyte of flash memory, a 7-inch LCD screen and an optional wireless pen for taking notes. The price? Just $285 – which could make it a stiff competitor to the $180 XO.
Intel is already running pilot projects in 30 countries including Egypt, where it has donated 250 Classmate laptops as part of its Intel Teach Program, a global initiative to train teachers on ways to integrate technology in the classroom. “I see technology as making it easier for the student and teacher to move to the next generation of 21st century skills,” Intel’s vice president for corporate affairs, Will Swope, told Business Monthly. He stresses that technology is not a substitute for experienced teachers, but is a tool to assist them. “Technology doesn’t enable, but rather enhances, makes more efficient and makes more enjoyable the learning experience.”
Intel was previously one of the most outspoken critics of Negroponte’s XO, which it said relied on archaic chip technology that limited its functionality. Industry analysts, however, believe the chipmaker’s real gripe was that the XO uses rival AMD’s processor. The squabble appears to have subsided and Intel has now come on board the OLPC project.
Swope, an OLPC board member, plays down any rivalry. “The current laptop that [Negroponte has launched] is powered by our competitor. So what? If we join him on that initiative, we’re going to work to make the technology better and we’re going to put in our offer of what the laptop would look like if it were running on Intel silicon. And he’s going to decide if he wants to use our [chips], or one of our many competitors. He’s got a lot of offers right now... from many different players.”
Moreover, Swope points out, the market for ultra-cheap educational laptops is enormous and virtually untapped. “We think there are over 50 million teachers in the world, and the better part of 500 million students, and the total number of PCs put into this effort so far is only in the thousands,” he says.
Experts applaud efforts to bridge the digital divide in the developing world, but stress that development cannot occur in a vacuum. “Any kind of technology, whether it’s laptops or desktops, is generally a good thing,” says Andrew Lewis, an education consultant in Cairo. “The problem with schools in Egypt is their emphasis on rote memorization. Computers should be part of a broader effort to change this. They should be tools used to teach critical thinking, and different subjects. Otherwise, their value is limited.”
Submit
your comment
Top
|
