Olpc, gadgets, negroponte, notebooks, xo laptop

OLPC Planning and Praying for $50 Laptop

In a chat with Laptop Mag about the booming ultra-cheap, ultra-portable laptop market, blustery and beleaguered OLPC founder Nick Negroponte actually manages to keep his cool while dissing his rivals—a laudable feat—and drops a couple of interesting bits: OLPC is still on a trajectory toward a $50 laptop, and they're planning on launching dual-boot Windows XP machines worldwide. Thems some lofty goals—aside from their epic fail to hit just $100, XO's crafty designer is only trying to clear $75. Good luck, Nick. [Laptop Mag]

5:00 PM on Tue Apr 8 2008
By matt buchanan
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13 comments

Comments

ripfire4 at 05:13 PM on 04/08/08
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$50 laptop? And they're trying to put in WinXP? Maybe one day when we're all living in a vault.
cyborgtroy at 05:16 PM on 04/08/08
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lol whut?

XP costs more than that.
Darrone at 05:18 PM on 04/08/08
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Is it just me or is he becoming the Ted Turner of technology.

"I've given a gift the whole world can appreciate, I've colorized the moon."
HeartBurnKid at 05:19 PM on 04/08/08
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WinXP costs more than $50 itself... Hell, I heard that even Dell can't get XP MCE (the cheapest one) for less than $35.
MisterSleep at 05:19 PM on 04/08/08
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Sounds like a noble goal, but the argumentative dbag in me can't help wondering if a child who can only afford a $50 notebook might benefit more from a few of these notebooks, with the rest of that $50 going towards teachers, vaccinations, etc...
Daren at 05:34 PM on 04/08/08
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that would be a easy goal to reach if they would cut out all the unnecessary features...

Also, $50 is still to much. Just sayin'
Daren at 05:39 PM on 04/08/08
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$50 would be a easy goal to reach if they would just cut out the unnecessary features.

That being said, $50 is still too much. You're not economical trying to outdo competing laptops, but the paper based medium.
ripfire4 at 05:42 PM on 04/08/08
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@Daren: I've got it! I know the solution to the problem:

[upload.wikimedia.org]
Daren at 06:08 PM on 04/08/08
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@ripfire4:

getting closer. :)

by the way, sorry for the second comment, didnt think the first went through.
Drvec at 06:54 PM on 04/08/08
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Hehe, I love the picture...
nutbastard at 10:00 PM on 04/08/08
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abacus-dabra!

So do you think all the poor kids in africa will get all apple smug and demand a refund of the difference for being 'early adopters'?

Im guessing no. Why? Because those kids would kill for any kind of adopter. Angelina Jolie as ones new mom ain't bad, but i've got the distinct feeling they aren't that picky.
thechansen at 11:50 PM on 04/08/08
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Did anyone catch that Brainman documentary on Discovery Science? The crazy Japanese kids that are so well trained on the abacus that they can picture one in their mind and solve multiplication in to the billions, all in their heads. Maybe we should be giving out those instead of OLPCs. And we should start that in the USA, because trust me on this, the kids in the school system now need something to prove that they have some intelligence.
sanjsrik at 12:04 PM on 04/09/08
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Are they planning on fixing the crappy membrane keyboards? They never bothered to set up a supply chain for repairs and there's quite a few people (myself included) who have kids who have ripped the raised membrane keyboards off letter by letter.

OLPC's answer, no, we have no solution and we have no repair parts for this.

If the membrane is ripping off in this country, what's happening to the membrane keyboard in places like Sudan?