The $100 Laptop

[Matt Ockenfels]

Originally Posted by Stephen Finton

And then watch in horror as Microsoft crushes their efforts, sending Cambodians fleeing back into their thatched huts to tend to their dusty looms and pottery wheels.

Microsoft would NEVER do that! After all, they don't sell dusty looms and pottery wheels.

Cheers,
-Matt

[Sean McHenry]

This was out in my late teens... we called it the Timex 1000. Some folks called it the T/S 1000 (Timex Sinclair)

The only reason I mention that is that it had a TV based output and not a moniotr or LCD screen output. Maybe it's time someone made a very small box that could hook up to your TV rather than a monitor? It should shave dome cost of the video output circuits as RF modulators are cheap.

It wouldn't be a laptop then but it would help with making hardware cheaper. Apparently resolution isn't really an issue if you are wiling to compromise on quality specs. Also, TVs are generally better now.

Just a thought.

Sean McHenry

[Heath McKnight]

Revealed:

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20050928/..._dollar_laptop

heath

[Boyd Ostroff]

When I read this article I remembered Charles' old thread and thought people might be interested in an update:

http://biz.yahoo.com/ap/061231/hundr...ptop.html?.v=4

Looks like it will be a $150 laptop for now, but the specs and user interface are pretty interesting and not what I would have expected:

folders are not the organizing metaphor on these machines, unlike most computers since Apple Computer Inc. launched the first Mac in 1984. The knock on folders is that they force users to remember where they stored their information rather than what they used it for.

Instead, the XO machines are organized around a "journal," an automatically generated log of everything the user has done on the laptop. Students can review their journals to see their work and retrieve files created or altered in those sessions.

[Christopher Lefchik]

Well, well, wouldn't you know. The cheapest computer on the planet would be the one to re-invent the principle on which saved information is organized and presented to the user.

[Boyd Ostroff]

Well Bill Gates doesn't seem to be too impressed with the whole concept (which shouldn't come as much of a surprise).... see his remarks in the following interview:

http://yahoo.businessweek.com/techno...447_page_2.htm

I think when you've got shared use, where you've invested in the training and the network and all that, you should have a fully capable machine.

[Steven Davis]

Originally Posted by Boyd Ostroff

Well Bill Gates doesn't seem to be too impressed with the whole concept (which shouldn't come as much of a surprise).... see his remarks in the following interview:

http://yahoo.businessweek.com/techno...447_page_2.htm

"We're much more about enabling partner innovation. If you believe in partner innovation, you might say, hmm, that's why the Windows PC has 95% market share. "

And this is the reason I am still updating XP which will not work seemlessly with all of my 'partner software.'

[Boyd Ostroff]

Updating this old thread yet again with an interesting article from Forbes: http://www.forbes.com/forbes/2007/0507/100_print.html

One of the hardware designers, lamenting that the antennas of traditional laptops were buried in the display screen, asked if he could liberate them to increase range. But industrial designers worried that external antennas would be too fragile. At about the same time, Quanta suggested a locking mechanism for the laptop that designers thought was not child-friendly or durable enough. After several iterations, the antennas now stick up like rabbit ears, but they also serve as latches to hold the laptop closed. And they fold down to cover the USB ports and microphone jacks, acting as dust covers. As of the last test, the antennas could survive a 5-foot drop, open. Best, they pick up signals from a half-mile away and then act as routers to bounce signals along, even when the computer is off. The idea is that a single connection in a school could reach an entire community by bouncing from one laptop to the next.

[Mike Teutsch]

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/technology/6908946.stm

[Kevin Randolph]

It really is a stunning idea and story. I hope some one takes the initiative and makes the documentary...

To bad I'm an ocean away...