Nicholas Negroponte, founder and chairman of the storied MIT Media Lab, is embarking on a mission to create a portable personal computer that would retail for only around $100. The goal is to create a PC that would be affordable to people in the developing world.
Negroponte has gotten promises of support from such major players as AMD, Google, Motorola, Samsung and News Corp. The Linux-based device would feature a 14" screen and contain AMD chips. A prototype is expected to be completed anytime, and Negroponte hopes to have a model in production within 18 months.
Initially, the budget PC will be sold as an education tool, with the education ministry of China already having placed an order. However, if you want one for yourself, you'll have to buy in bulk; Negroponte is only accepting orders of 1 million units or more.
UPDATE: WorldChanging takes a critical look at Negroponte's project, and showcases several alternative computing solutions for users in developing countries.
Sources: Red Herring, KurzweilAI.net
computers
No comments:
Post a Comment