Aha ! "$100 laptop" ... uh? yeah, sure ?!!?!

Couple of weeks ago, browsing the local paper (QC Times), I found an article in the business section about the prices of the laptops from the OLPC project.

I'm not specifically following up this project, but as usually happens ... suddenly I see it everywhere ... the articles or news just pop at me. In a previous posting I talked about the difference in price, at the beginning I thought that will be just a Latin America overhead cost ($100 + taxes + any other government fee). However seems that the $100 is just a label. Here is an extract of the article:

" ... Leaders of the non profit One Laptop Per Child that was spun out MIT acknowledged Friday that the devices are now slated to cost $188 when mass production begins this fall. The last price the non profit announced was $176; it described $100 as a long term goal."

I am glad that at least these change in price is acknowledge now, and they do not force to produce something with less capabilities than the ones needed. You know "the cheap ...in the long run costs double ...". However the article also mentions a reality for the governments who budget for $100 per laptop and it might be costing almost double. I will not be surprised if some of the interested just drop their place in the waiting list.

Back in 2005 was reported that the laptop will be "... A 500-megahertz processor (that was fast in the 1990s but slow by today’s standards) by Advanced Micro Devices Inc. and flash memory instead of a hard drive with moving parts. To save on software costs, the laptops would run the freely available Linux operating system instead of Windows.
The computers would be able to connect to Wi-Fi wireless networks and be part of “mesh” networks in which each laptop would relay data to and from other devices, reducing the need for expensive base stations. Plans call for the machines to have four USB ports for multimedia and data storage.'

The 2007 article reminds us that the the laptops will still feature:

• open-source & intuitive interface
• sunlight readable display
• very low power consumption (and pull cord for recharging by hand), and
• built-in wireless networking

Source: Quad-City Times - Business Section - Page A-20 - Sep 16, 2007