21 novembre 2005

One Laptop Per Child initiative

I had heard of it many months ago. One wacky (assuredly) guy with brains (assuredly) and reputation (also) had conceived the idea of biulding a computer so cheap that it could potentially be offered to EVERY child on earth. That is, a computer that would cost less than 100$.

There are two aspects that I find deeply interesting, first the technical aspect, how can you design a computer that costs around 100% and make it work in the most remote places in therms of technology? The solutions to reduce the cost are sometimes well known (small screen for small budget) to downright crazy: no hard drive but a 1Gig flash memory, no battery but a wind-up for an autonomy of 40 minutes.
But the most positive aspect of all this is the possibilities that this project brings. It will bring to these children the access to knowledge and the education they should have. Of course, it may also bring them the negative aspects of our "modern society", in the same way that evangelists brought christianism for the better or for the worse.
It's a mixed feeling, but I really shows that when a group of people really try, they can move moutains...
Makes me cheery. And that 100$ computer looks way better than my 2000$ laptop...

More information on the 100$ Laptop site

3 commentaires:

Anonyme a dit…

Ah, I am anticipating the viruses and spam mails and hackers of the next generation! But that green laptop does look pretty nifty...

kala

tommpouce a dit…

Hey girls :-)
Mik> good to hear you're still alive :p Yeah, and almost come true already.
Kala>Don't worry for the viruses, it's linux based ;) Altough I can see a flourishing market for hackers, alright lol. Too bad one can't buy it for oneself...

tommpouce a dit…

how rude for such a well educated young lady LOL. Well, the goal is to have it paid by the states, minimum purchase quantity:1 million. But yeah, it's still too expensive for many countries.