Eee PC - $100 laptop starting from $199 October 11, 2007
Posted by Matthew Woolums in OLPC.1 comment so far
Reuters is reporting that Asustek Computer received an order for 1 million low cost computers called Eee PCs. I’m making an assumption that more computers is increasing the number of people connected to each other, and I think that’s a good thing.
http://www.reuters.com/article/marketsNews/idUKTP30697020071011?rpc=44
$100 Laptop Apple Style October 2, 2007
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Okay, technically this one might not really be a laptop, but the Apple iPod touch deserves consideration in this space. Kathy Schrock recently posted several times about her experience with one of the new iPod touches and recounts her experience on her blog, the KaffeeKlatch. The first post is linked below, but look for additional posts in her archive. Pricing currently starts at $299.
http://kathyschrock.net/blog/2007/09/ipod-touch-is-great.html
More $100 Laptops for More Than $100 October 2, 2007
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C|Net Blogs has a nice report on yet another $100 laptop for more than $100, from now on referred to by my first self-coined term: ya$l (pronounced yeah-sil.) I’m not really sure why this issue interests me, but access is still an enormous issue to overcome if technology is to have the sort of impact I think it can have.
http://blogs.cnet.com/8301-13512_1-9789306-23.html?tag=rsspr.6211270&part=rss&subj=news
OLPC - Buy One Give One September 25, 2007
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Yet another twist to the OLPC saga. The BBC is reporting that people in the US will be able to purchase one of the ‘$100 laptops’ for $399. The extra cost covers the purchase of a second OLPC for a child in a developing nation. It will be interesting to see how many are purchased and donated.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/technology/6994957.stm
OLPC Now $188 September 15, 2007
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CNN.com is reporting that the once $100 laptop developed by MIT for the One Laptop Per Child project is now selling for $188. Just thought you might want to know.
http://www.cnn.com/2007/TECH/ptech/09/14/hundred.dollar.laptop.ap/
Green Student Computer - Zonbu August 27, 2007
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This option for a low cost computer is also not a laptop, but hey, it says it is ecological, and the name sounds like web 2.0 goodness. It can be purchased for $99 but that also requires a $12.95 monthly online storage subscription. This is starting to sound like a cell phone.
http://www.zonbu.com/home/index.htm
OLPC Under The Hood August 12, 2007
Posted by Matthew Woolums in Articles/Videos, OLPC.add a comment
Google EngEDU host a series of videos on a wide range of topics. In this one hour video, Ivan Krstic, from the One Laptop Per Child organization explains some of the reasons for the project and technical details about how the laptop itself will work when deployed. This is definitely a technical overview.
http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-4285568518538296189
$100 Laptop Review August 10, 2007
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Freedom to Tinker has posted a review of one of the laptops from the One Laptop Per Child organization. The review was actually written by a 12 year old. It makes for good reading and gives perspective from the point of view of someone in the target age group.
http://www.freedom-to-tinker.com/?p=1187
$100 Laptop - Intel Style - $225 and up August 6, 2007
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Forbes posted video coverage of Intel’s ClassMate, a low cost $225 laptop. So many choices for the emerging markets around the world that traditionally have not participated in global communications in the classroom. It will be interesting to see how access will impact those classrooms.
http://www.forbes.com/video/?video=fvn/tech/ms_classmate080607&partner=yahootix
$100 Computer Lenovo Style - $199 August 4, 2007
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In the ongoing pursuit of cheap computers, here is a Yahoo! News report from Joe McDonald, an AP Business Writer about Lenovo and their efforts to find a market in rural China. This isn’t a laptop like the One Laptop per Child movement, but cheap anyway.
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20070803/ap_on_hi_te/china_lenovo_cheap_pc
$100 Laptop - Now for only $350, or Maybe $525! July 24, 2007
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Reuters is reporting that the company that makes the XO, the laptop part of the One Laptop Per Child iniative, may begins selling the laptop here in the US, for only $350. The price of $525 is also being considered, according to the report.
http://www.reuters.com/article/companyNewsAndPR/idUSN2336963020070723
$100 Laptop - Now Only $175, or Maybe Low $200’s July 13, 2007
Posted by Matthew Woolums in Articles/Videos, OLPC.add a comment
I read a short article from Yahoo! Finance about how Intel has made peace with the One Laptop Per Child initiative, which is the work of Nicholas Negroponte at MIT. I’m glad to see increased access to technology, specifically networked devices that connect people around the world. I do think it is a little humorous that the laptop project is still called the ‘$100 laptop’ now that the price is listed in this article as $175. And here I thought technology was getting cheaper, or maybe this is just an exception that proves Moore’s Law. The article is linked below which contains links to both the laptop project and Intel’s version of a similar device.
http://biz.yahoo.com/ap/070713/hundred_dollar_laptop_intel.html?.v=6
One-to-One or Not to-One? May 18, 2007
Posted by Matthew Woolums in Articles/Videos, OLPC, Opinion.add a comment
A recent conversation came up where school technology representatives were debating the merits of technology in general, and specifically the worth of laptops in schools. This followed the New York Times “Seeing No Progress, Some Schools Drop Laptops” article. One particularly well thought out response came from a friend of mine, Craig Herrera:
Just my two cents worth - In a school with little space and a middle school population, I find the laptops a nice addition to the lab. Since I have classes pretty much all day in the lab, the laptop cart is available for check out by teachers. Sometimes the students are just word processing, sometimes they are doing research, the bottom line is that the laptops are being used as another educational tool. Can these tasks be accomplished with other tools, yes, but the laptops offer a convenience that we like here. Are the laptops more work for me, the STR, a little, but I feel that the extra work is worth students being able to accomplish some of their academic work. I also agree that training for staff and students is key to making laptops work for a building. Are laptops a miracle, no, but they help when space and schedules are tight.
Craig makes many good points and I support his position. What position do you take? Should schools have laptops for students? Who should provide them, the students or the schools?
Student Computer Specifications January 18, 2007
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In another article from eSchool News, a group called Project Inkwell released specifications for student computing. Among other details the group calls for devices under 4 pounds, small enough to fit easily in a backpack, and have a batter life of at least 4 hours that can be recharged 300 times. A more progressive approach might have been to describe the sort of interface such a device should use. For a look at one such alternative to existing computing device interfaces, check out this video of Jeff Han’s touch screen interface. Jeff Han is a research scientist at New York University’s Courant Institute.
http://www.eschoolnews.com/news/showStoryRSS.cfm?ArticleID=6794&page=1
$100 laptop status (Now for only $150) December 31, 2006
Posted by Matthew Woolums in Articles/Videos, OLPC.add a comment
MIT is famous for many education related innovations in technology, with the latest being a foray into providing low cost laptops to undeveloped nations. Based on open source designs and software, the XO Machine, as it is currently being called, is described in an article from Yahoo Business. One of the more interesting quotes is listed below.
“In fact, one of the saddest but most common conditions in elementary school computer labs (when they exist in the developing world), is the children are being trained to use Word, Excel and PowerPoint,” Negroponte wrote in an e-mail interview. “I consider that criminal, because children should be making things, communicating, exploring, sharing, not running office automation tools.”
http://biz.yahoo.com/ap/061231/hundred_dollar_laptop.html?.v=3
Also covered by the BBC
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/technology/6224183.stm
