Cheap Linux PCs may pressure One Laptop Per Child
Submitted by srlinuxx on Sat, 11/03/2007 - 19:09.
Asus recently shipped its Linux-based Eee PC, and Everex on Thursday said it would soon sell Linux-based PCs with an x86 processor for under US$300. Those competitive prices may draw buyers to commercial laptops over One Laptop Per Chilld's (OLPC's) specialized XO laptops, which will carry a $200 price tag when it ships on Nov. 12, analysts said.
OLPC, a nonprofit organization, is hoping its low-cost XO laptop will revolutionize learning for children in the developing world. Afflicted with production delays and rising costs, the XO has jumped from its original estimated price of $100 and the effort now faces pricing competition from commercial laptops.
The progressive integration of hardware to include more features like graphics helped drop prices of commercial laptops, said Roger Kay, founder and president with Endpoint Technologies Associates. The price of LCDs (liquid crystal displays) fell because of stiff competition between suppliers, Kay said.
Also:
The first impression you get from this machine is how small it is. I can use it comfortably between my belly and the steering wheel. The keyboard is small. The keys are small, and my fat fingers have some trouble typing. Not uncomfortably though. I have used small keyboards where my hands hurt after a while. Not this one.
The hardware is nice. Tidy, well put together. It doesn't feel cheap, in fact it has a nice feel. It is a pretty basic configuration. An Intel Celeron M, 900 mhz although it is stepped down to extend battery life. Intel graphics, an Atheros wireless adapter that is currently not supported in MadWifi. It has a video camera above the screen. It has 3 usb ports, an SD card slot, ethernet jack. The batteries seem to last quite well.
The screen is small, 7" diagonal, running at 800x600. It is very bright and clear. Easy to look at and read in various ambient lighting conditions.
The truly interesting part is the software.
OLPC made a few mistakes on the way ? Recovery in sight ?
We can count the many mistakes OLPC made to prevent their own sales of the hardware. The most important is their perception that battery and charger will sell in villages of no electrical power. Governments had no population census, so they don't dare to place an order; OLPC had to get contributions from rich people. They never realize rich people did not get rich by foolishly spend their money.
To recover from their earlier mistakes, and the XO invention; they have to have a usable laptop in the electrical world. And put electrical generators in villages thus far had still no electricity.
XO is a great invention for kindergarten students, if children's books of pull outs is included. Other K-12 students need the word processor and spreadsheet to do their home work. So, Microsoft with Works is doing their stripped down operating system for OLPC, finally. OLPC can now sell thru the regular distribution system around the world.
Geode cpu is too slow with slow buses on the PC board, can use more DDR. Classmate maybe the next OLPC, how do they compete with Intel, who is already trying to sell the governments?
In conclusion, MIT folks had to hire sales people to make this project work?