A program to provide millions of low-cost laptops to students in poor countries is set to start production in September even as commercial competitors prepare to offer even cheaper models.
The idea from Nicholas Negroponte, a cofounder of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) Media Laboratory, who proposed the project at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, two years ago, has moved closer to fruition.
Negroponte sees the computers, to be sold in bulk to governments of certain countries, as a linchpin of education and development.
production
The non-profit organization he formed -- One Laptop Per Child (OLPC) -- attracted support of leading businesses and institutions and will start production later this year, said Michail Bletsas, chief connectivity officer at OLPC.
The laptop is being made by the Taiwanese firm Quanta Computer Inc (
"OLPC would like to manufacture at least 3 million units in the first round of production," Bletsas said.
developing nations
But OLPC could not say which countries were planning to order the laptops, spokeswoman Jackie Lustig said. Volume shipments to developing nations were planned for later this year, she said.
"OLPC is in talks with Argentina, Brazil, Uruguay, Peru, Nigeria, Thailand, Pakistan, Russia, Rwanda and many other countries -- but nothing definite just yet," she said.
The new computers will not carry the symbolic price tag of US$100, at least not right away. The first models will cost US$175 and OLPC hopes the price will come down to US$100 by 2009.
xo
Negroponte wanted to have an innovative, specifically tailored laptop -- called the XO -- that would be very small, hardy, user-friendly and use the free Linux operating system, not Microsoft Corp's Windows, which dominates the world market.
Sponsors of the project include chip maker AMD Inc; RedHat Inc, which is supplying the operating system; Google Inc, eBay Inc and News Corp.
OLPC dropped plans for the laptop to have a manual charger to cope with any lack of electricity, but has built in several features such as a camera, Bluetooth and Wi-Fi connections, and a one gigabyte of memory.
students
The association just distributed several hundred of the laptops to students in Nigeria, Thailand and Uruguay with the hope of eventually shipping millions to the countries. However, no orders came.
The sharpest critic of the project is the world's leading chip maker Intel Corp, which has dismissed the XO as a "gadget" and launched a rival commercial product.
Intel's "Classmate," also manufactured in Taiwan, costs US$285 and the price will drop to US$200 at the end of the year, Intel spokeswoman Agnes Kwan said.
Several thousand
Several thousand units have been shipped to Brazil, Mexico and Nigeria, she said, and the target is 100,000 laptops by December. And Pakistan has ordered 700,000 for 2009, she said.
Aghast at this commercial rivalry, Negroponte said recently that "Intel should be ashamed of itself."
He accused the US microprocessor giant of selling the laptops below cost to destroy the XO, a charge Intel has denied.
Soon OLPC will have to contend with even more aggressive Indian competitors.
The group Novatium just brought out a basic "NetPC" for US$80.
The market for the poor has become so enticing that Microsoft is preparing to launch a scaled-down software bundle of Windows and Office for US$3 for qualifying governments.
UNICEF, the UN children's fund, is a bright spot for OLPC which is putting its education content on all the laptops shipped.
On a sunny spring day in New York last week, two UNICEF officials were outdoors testing several of the small green-and-white laptops.
"If millions of these are in kids' hands, it will be a very good way to develop our info for them and to hear back from kids in the developing world to know what their needs are," said Erica Kochi, a spokeswoman.
94 teens
UNICEF is sending 94 teens from several countries to Heiligendamm, Germany, on Friday to use the XOs to prepare proposals to present to the leaders of the G8 leading nations meeting there, she said.
"We are using the XO during the summit because these machines connect between them even if there is no Internet," Kochi explained.
WHEELING AND DEALING? Hou You-yi, Ko Wen-je, Eric Chu and Ma Ying-jeou are under investigation for allegedly offering bribes for the other side to drop out of the race Taipei prosecutors have started an investigation into allegations that four top politicians involved in attempts to form a “blue-white” presidential ticket have contravened election regulations. Listed as defendants are Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) presidential candidate and New Taipei City Mayor Hou You-yi (侯友宜), KMT Chairman Eric Chu (朱立倫), former president Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) of the KMT and Taiwan People’s Party (TPP) Chairman and presidential candidate Ko Wen-je (柯文哲). The case stemmed from judicial complaints filed last month with the Taipei District Prosecutors’ Office alleging that the KMT (blue) and the TPP (white) had engaged in bribery by offering money or other enticements
COUNTER DISINFORMATION: More engagement and media literacy are needed to push back against misinformation and claims that the US is an unreliable partner, the AIT director said The US is “confident” that Taiwan does not face an imminent threat of a Chinese invasion, American Institute in Taiwan (AIT) Director Sandra Oudkirk told a US public radio show, adding that Washington remains committed to defensively arming the nation. She made the comment during an interview on All Things Considered, broadcast on Friday on US-based National Public Radio. “There is an important distinction between making plans and training troops, and getting ready to do something,” Oudkirk said, on whether she thinks Beijing plans to attack Taiwan in the near future. Chinese officials have told Washington that “their preference is for peaceful reunification,
EXPOSED: Some Taipei wardens reported joining the trips out of peer pressure, while others said they were relieved it was made public so they could refuse, a city councilor said Nearly 30 percent of Taipei borough wardens have joined group tours to China that were partially funded by the Chinese government, leading prosecutors probing potential Chinese interference in January’s elections to question local officials, an investigation showed. Democratic Progressive Party Taipei City councilors Chien Shu-pei (簡舒培) and Chen E-jun (陳怡君) have reported cases of Taipei borough wardens inviting residents to join inexpensive privately organized group tours to China that were partially funded by the Chinese government. The six-day trips reportedly cost NT$10,000 to NT$15,000, the councilors said. An investigation by the Liberty Times (the Taipei Times’ sister newspaper) showed that nearly 30 percent
ELIGIBLE FOR JANUARY: All presidential candidates and their running mates meet the requirements to run for office, and none hold dual citizenship, the CEC said Taiwan People’s Party (TPP) Legislator and vice presidential candidate Cynthia Wu (吳欣盈) is working with the Central Election Commission (CEC) to resolve issues with her financial disclosure statement, a spokesman for the candidate said yesterday, after the commission published the statements of all three presidential candidates and their running mates, while confirming their eligibility to run in the Jan. 13 election. Wu’s office spokesman, Chen Yu-cheng (陳宥丞), said the candidate encountered unforeseen difficulties disclosing her husband’s finances due to being suddenly thrust into the campaign. She is also the first vice presidential nominee to have a foreign spouse, complicating the reporting of
RSS