Linked by Thom Holwerda on Sat 15th Sep 2007 19:57 UTC, submitted by Bobthearch
The vaunted 'USD 100 laptop' that Massachusetts Institute of Technology researchers dreamed up for international schoolchildren is becoming a slightly more distant concept. The USD 100 laptop has many innovative features including a pull cord for recharging by hand. Leaders of the nonprofit One Laptop Per Child that was spun out of MIT acknowledged Friday that the devices are now slated to cost USD 188 when mass production begins this fall. The last price the nonprofit announced was USD 176; it described USD 100 as a long-term goal.
Permalink for comment 271648
To read all comments associated with this story, please click here.
To read all comments associated with this story, please click here.
Member since:
2005-07-24
"""
Like schoolkids should have laptops anyway. The ubiquitous cell phone is bad enough,
"""
*sigh*
I would agree if we were talking about 1st world kids and 1st world schools. If I could round up every cell phone in the U.S. and have them all melted down and recycled into something *useful* I would do it.
But the XO is not a luxury item. It is a lifeline. It is a more cost-effective way to get *books* to the children who need them. It has other benefits as well. But primarily it is a *substitute* for resources which their schools could otherwise not afford.
Paper books are expensive to produce. PDF's are cheap.
$188 would buy you about 3 paper textbooks here in the U.S.