So that’s what Negroponte has been up to.
CNN.com – MIT developing $100 laptops for children – Apr 4, 2005
In design and function, Negroponte wants the $100 laptop to “be so close to the current laptops as to be nearly indistinguishable,” but acknowledges that the machine will have a relatively slow processor and modest storage capacity paired with barebones software.The biggest challenge, he says, is designing a display that doesn’t put the price out of reach or drain the battery too quickly.
Details are still being worked out, but here’s the MIT team’s current recipe: Put the laptop on a software diet; use the freely distributed Linux operating system; design a battery capable of being recharged with a hand crank; and use newly developed “electronic ink” or a novel rear-projected image display with a 12-inch screen.
Then, give it Wi-Fi access, and add USB ports to hook up peripheral devices.
Interesting if some of these technologies (a good-looking low-power screen would be a real breakthrough) make it back into the for-profit segments.