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Gadgets OLPC Raises Laptop Price to $175
Michael Hoffman (Blog) - April 28, 2007 4:55 PM
Print E-mail del.icio.us 52 comment(s) - last by mindless1.. on May 1 at 5:25 PM
Even though the price of the OLPC has risen to $175, it is still cheaper than alternative projects

The One Laptop Per Child (OLPC) group recently announced that its low-cost laptop would be raised from $100 up to $175, but the group is still confident that enough orders will be placed for the group to begin mass production before September.  The goal behind the project is planning to offer inexpensive notebook computers to school children in developing nations.

Even with an increased price tag of $175, the notebooks are still much cheaper than what the computer industry has traditionally offered.  OLPC founder Nicholas Negroponte previously stated the price of the notebooks could drop almost 25 percent per year.

A number of factors have caused the increase in the laptop, including design costs and a raise in price of nickel.

"We are perhaps at the most critical stage of OLPC's life," said Negroponte.

Using a modified version of Red hat Linux, the Quanta Computer-built laptop offers users an interface that has pictographic icons instead of traditional windows and folders.

OLPC reportedly already has 2.5 million unit orders, but has to reach the 3 million order mark before May 30, or the group's hardware suppliers will not have enough time to get parts ready, according to Negroponte.

OLPC officials said on Thursday that it may offer laptops to U.S. schools, even though the group previously said that the laptops would be for foreign children only.

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Anti-OLPC
By Dactyl on 4/29/2007 1:36:52 AM , Rating: 5
On the news of price increases, children across the third world rioted today, demanding the OLPC project be scrapped in favor of the OPPEFK plan:

One PS3 Per Every Four Kids

Considering that most of them have 3 or more siblings, OPPEFK would mean a Cell Broadband Engine-based Linux machine in most homes. It would provide greater computational resources to the third world (and help cure cancer). Edu-tainment software would take place in a 3D world and instructional videos would be rendered in glorious 1080p.

And no one would make fun of them for having something that looks like a toy.

We're going to need programmers who can handle multithreading. Getting the next generation of youths in Africa started on CBE machines will do more for us in the long run than giving them oversized Tamagotchi machines.

Plus, Sony will make a killing selling them wireless internet add-ons and HDMI cables.




RE: Anti-OLPC
By sulo251 on 4/29/2007 2:04:23 AM , Rating: 3
I fully support this plan! Where do I sign up?!


RE: Anti-OLPC
By Fenixgoon on 4/29/2007 5:25:42 PM , Rating: 2
and how are they going to afford all this electricity that the PS3 consumes by being on and folding?


RE: Anti-OLPC
By KaiserCSS on 4/29/2007 9:14:56 PM , Rating: 3
Did you hear that 'whooshing' sound over your head just now? No?

Well, I suppose that explains it.


RE: Anti-OLPC
By kristof007 on 4/30/2007 3:38:47 PM , Rating: 2
Oh man thanks for the laugh. That's an amazing post.

On a more serious note props to the guys who created the modified Linux OS with an easier navigation interface than windows.


Updates on the article ....
By crystal clear on 4/29/2007 4:58:11 AM , Rating: 5
OLPC has named its laptop as -"Children's Machine 1 (CM1)".

Then comes this-

Update: It looks like the branding is evolving as rapidly as the hardware. MIT media lab faculty member and OLPC project participant Walter Bender replaced every instance of "CM1" in the OLPC wiki with 2B1, the same name used by a tax-exempt non-profit organization founded by Dimitri and Nicholas Negroponte in the '90s. The 2B1 Foundation was re-launched earlier this month with little notice from the press. Sources within the OLPC project have confirmed the 2B1 branding change, but it hasn't yet been officially announced.

The specifications(updated)-

CM1/2B1 features a 400mhz AMD Geode processor (the original prototypes had a 366mhz processor), 128MB of DRAM, built-in wireless support, and 512MB of flash memory for internal storage.

In addition to a faster processor, the CM1 sports several other new features not found in the original prototypes, including an SD card slot, microphone and speaker jacks (potentially for rumored VoIP support), and a digital camera capable of capturing video and still images

The display will feature 1200x900 resolution.

Nicholas Negroponte reveals that the CM1 display "has higher resolution than 95 percent of the laptop displays on the market today.

http://arstechnica.com/news.ars/post/20060825-7593...

Now a simple question-this laptops targeted use is in the UNDERDEVELOPED WORLD, then why do you need to upgrade.

Example-
quote:
a digital camera capable of capturing video and still images


quote:
1200x900 resolution


I ask WHY ?

This drives up the COST-they need something very basic.

Sorry OLPC dont upgrade rather downgrade & stick to the
$100 barrier & logo.




RE: Updates on the article ....
By Spoelie on 4/30/2007 7:16:57 AM , Rating: 3
You cannot deprive third world children of a myspace! how else would they take pictures/webcam vids :'(


RE: Updates on the article ....
By zsouthboy on 4/30/07, Rating: 0
ebooks
By feelingshorter on 4/29/2007 2:46:13 AM , Rating: 2
One good use for this in the USA (as well as other countries) would be digitizing paper books. I'm tired of paying 120 bucks for a book + 60 dollars for "chem/bio/skillbuilder" or "MyMathLab", on top of your actual lab book. Heavy to carry around too. If they make a OLPC with ebooks, students will be able to carry around all their books (and more) in one package.

Why not laptops? Laptops are bigger, heavier and overpowered. You don't need a C2D for a basic ebook reader/word processing program. I want something that can boot up really quick, and don't have any moving parts inside so it will be rigid. I know SSD hard drives are going to replace regular hard drives somewhere in the future but what I'm saying is that we don't need a lot of space. Make OLPCs strictly for educational purposes. Make it so that they can combine, for example, a chemistry book w/ chemskillbuilder and lab book all into one. That way, a student can read, do his/her homework, and turn it in wirelessly either at school or at home. Forgot what you were problems you were assigned in the book for homework? No problem, if someone designs a simple scheduler that shows you all your assignments from all your classes. Each OLPC can be identified by the student id number, with a database to keep records of all the classes that student is taking. Maybe even make it download your homework automatically once you step onto school campus.

As for the screen? High resolution but doesn't need a lot of color dept (since its mostly text).

Laptops are used for a variety of reasons, from gaming (a little) to word processing. But if there is a OLPC designed for educational purposes only, it can use hardware that doesn't need to handle everything, and therefore can be ultra low voltage and slow (how fast can you read :P).

Maybe I'm dreaming, but just as the newspaper industry is suffering, the book industry might follow. Ebooks/audiobooks are the way to go. Journalist are in the business of news reporting, so even if newspaper dies, they still have jobs. Books and education will always be needed, and OLPCs are just a new means of delivery.

but... one thing does bother me... All these guys pushing OLPCs are saying they are doing it for the "3rd world countries" when I can see many benefits for the USA. I can see Carlos Mencia saying "Waaitt a minnuuute" in a retarded person's voice. Its like they are saying "we're helping people in other countries" until someone in the USA realizes the light and pushes the idea through our education system. Companies aren't stupid, so I see it as a hoax to take the moral high ground. They know the massive benefits and will make tons of money in the USA sooner or later.




RE: ebooks
By Dactyl on 4/29/2007 4:17:36 AM , Rating: 2
We will get eBooks as soon as the content owners figure out how to DRM them into uselessness.

For instance, you will be able to buy your textbooks for $60 instead of $80-120, but they will disappear after 1 semester.


RE: ebooks
By michal1980 on 4/29/2007 9:37:13 AM , Rating: 1
already out there, safarix i belive is the sight.


RE: ebooks
By eman 7613 on 4/29/2007 7:12:47 PM , Rating: 2
Doesn't matter, its called the PrintScrn button, you can download (or code easily enough) applications that will take a pic of the screen and auto save it into a pdf, jpg, what ever and be done with it.


Why Windows?
By themadmilkman on 4/29/2007 5:31:32 AM , Rating: 2
It's interesting that Windows eventually ended up on the machine. Negroponte was initially very adament that the project use an open-source operating system. He even very publicly turned down Apple's offer of a free OS for the project. At the same time, Bill Gates was publicly opposed to the OLPC project, essentially calling it a waste of time and resources.

And now the OLPC project is using Windows. Does anybody else find that odd?




RE: Why Windows?
By wien on 4/29/2007 8:39:15 AM , Rating: 2
Ummm, what?
quote:
Using a modified version of Red hat Linux, the Quanta Computer-built laptop offers users an interface that has pictographic icons instead of traditional windows and folders.


RE: Why Windows?
By themadmilkman on 4/29/2007 1:16:24 PM , Rating: 2
quote:
However, Negroponte disclosed that XO's developers have been working with Microsoft so a version of Windows can run on the machines as well. It could be the $3 software package that Microsoft announced last week for governments that subsidize student computers. It includes Windows XP Starter Edition and some of Microsoft's "productivity" software.


Maybe I've read a little too far into this, but we all know Microsoft's history in allowing competing operating systems to exist. How long until this machine ONLY comes with Windows? How many potential buyers are going to demand that it comes with Windows now that it's a possibility, since "Windows is the standard, and our kids need to learn standards."? My high school did this. Want to take a guess at how useful my classes using Windows 95 were ten years later?

More importantly, it shows a fairly dramatic shift in Negroponte's stand, and one that I don't particularly like.


Whats the point?
By ChipDude on 4/29/2007 12:16:42 PM , Rating: 2
3 million orders is simply too small an order to get economies of scale.

Also whats the point of giving kids in developing countries a PC? It makes good media for this silly fool, but another fine example of pulling on guillible peoples heart strings for a useless cause. Take the 175 bucks and invest that in local infrascture like teachers, buildings, water, food, eletricity will help these children far more then have this silly little laptop that can't even run the programs and applications that 99% of the world use.

If you can't see the motives behidn this silly politicians effort then you have no business commenting on this and spewing BS about gambling, porn, bush and foreign aid.




RE: Whats the point?
By zsouthboy on 4/30/2007 10:44:16 AM , Rating: 2
Nice.

What's the point in giving kids paper and pencils? We could spend that money on more important things!

Did it ever occur to you that perhaps giving millions of children worldwide, most of whom would never come in contact with a computer, much less one that allows them to grasp basic computing concepts on their own time, might somehow be beneficial?


RE: Whats the point?
By mindless1 on 5/1/2007 5:25:47 PM , Rating: 2
When you put it like that, no it won't be beneficial. If this is their ONLY exposure to computers, the skills they learn are completely wasted.

This whole project is about thrusting ideology onto cultures while the ideologists have been making basic presumptions that the quality of life for these people is equivalent to those in 1st world countries who are merely "poor".

If you don't even have an effective enough power grid to run computers, thinking about wind-up toys as being a benefit (instead of, oh, how about A POWER GRID for their basic standards of living increase?) is just crazy.


Now its hard to believe you(OLPC)
By crystal clear on 4/29/2007 3:21:49 AM , Rating: 2
quote:
A number of factors have caused the increase in the laptop, including design costs and a raise in price of nickel


Not convincing-Not acceptable-Stick to your budgets.

Afterall you (OLPC) constantly advertised it as a $100 a piece.

Looks like the $100 a piece was a marketing gimmick.

Publish your COSTING details-Something doesnt smell good here.

Result-Loss of confidence in you OLPC !




By themadmilkman on 4/29/2007 1:19:00 PM , Rating: 2
The extra cost appears to come from the new ability to run Windows. Extra RAM, a higher-resolution screen, etc. Are these things really needed to run a Linux variant? Not really, since a custom variant would be designed for the screen, not the screen designed to contain the interface.


Now it's OLPEOC
By devolutionist on 4/29/2007 12:16:33 PM , Rating: 3
One Laptop Per Every Other Child. $100 is the mark and they should've kept it there.