OLPC Laptop will be available in the "first world"

[mtron]

great news!

pay for 2, get one and with the rest of the money you'll fund the laptop for a kid!

Partner will be ebay

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/technology/6246989.stm

[Redache]

I'd do that, just 'cause it gives somebody the opportunity to learn. This is the best idea the world has ever seen/had.

[weatherman]

I like the idea that you get the email of the child you're sponsoring.

[Technoviking]

I have heard talks with the OLPC team, and they have said this may be a possibility.

[viciouslime]

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/technology/6246989.stm

Yup, you too will be able to get your hands on one of those wonderful little green things, packed full of linuxy goodness. There is a clever catch however, you have to buy two of them, one of which will be delivered to you, the other to a third world country. What a great idea! :D

[weatherman]

already posted here http://ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?p=1993500

[MonkeyBoy]

It sounds like a great idea. I hope that means it will cost $200 (£105 ish) in the UK.

We always seem to be let down by hardware and software pricing over here.

Whatever I plan to get one.:)

[Biggus]

This could well be THE must have accessory of the year, methinks.

It's a great idea, I'm expecting everyone from 'socially aware' celebrities to basement hackers to want one of these things.

If they can get them to the public at a reasonable cost, and they continue on with the great marketing work which they have already done, they will ship bucket loads of the things.

[ago]

Really an excellent idea, you get a nice and sturdy piece of electronic, a nice educational tool, you help spread Linux and you help a kid in developing countries. And even at twice the price it is still the cheapest alternative you can get for something like that (a spare LCD laptop screen would cost you £100+ on ebay!). What more could you want.

The nice touch is that according to the article they are trying to keep distribution channels from adding margins (apparently they are studing a deal with ebay for direct distribution to the customers). This means that there is hope that this time the exchange rate will not be 1£=1$, as it usually happens when traditional retail chains are involved...

I will certainly get 1 for myself, it will be my defauly present for most children in the family and I will try to promote it among my friends.

[IYY]

Even if there was no sponsering involved, and I saw this laptop at the store for $300 or so, I'd buy it instantly. Here's why:

Software: this thing is designed for Linux, which is what I will be using on it. Since I use the terminal and lightweight apps most of the time, I think it will be able to do everything I want it to.

Display: I hear that the black and white mode on the display is even better for reading than normal LCD monitors, and since the laptop can be folded into a mode useful for reading, this will be a feature I will use often.

Size and weight: It's small and light, and even has a handle. I'll be able to take it with me everywhere I go!

Power consumption: The fact that it uses less power is important for me both because it's `greener' and because I want to take it on trips, and often won't have much power.

Reliability: This laptop runs far cooler than any modern computer (it's actually underclocked), and has hardware that's designed to last even under extreme conditions. I find that laptops today are too fragile to spend money on. All of my friends who bought laptops for less than $2000 or so report hardware malfunctions.

Other cool stuff: It has a camera, a microphone and speakers built in, all of them with open drivers so they'll work great on Linux. If that's not awesome, I don't know what is.

This laptop will be perfect for lying in bed and browsing the web, taking with me on trips, taking notes in class, using on the subway... Forget $300, even if it cost $1000 I'd buy one.

[G Morgan]

The nice touch is that according to the article they are trying to keep distribution channels from adding margins (apparently they are studing a deal with ebay for direct distribution to the customers). This means that there is hope that this time the exchange rate will not be 1£=1$, as it usually happens when traditional retail chains are involved...

You mean the exchange rate isn't 1:1. Next you'll be telling me that $1 ~= £0.5 and that hardware manufacturers have been raping me all these years. Ahh, I'm going to find a sufficiently high bridge.

The OLPC project looks good but I've just bought a laptop so will have to abstain for now. Perhaps I'll donate £50 to have one sent off anyway (I assume you can do that, they'll probably only accept £100 donations :mrgreen: ).

Back on the British hardware front, they are starting to drop prices. I notice Apple are still high as ever though. My £569 laptop is actually quite a lot better than the bottom range £750 Macbook but I'm sure people will buy them for the shininess of it all. Hell £200 is only a few leaps in processor power, what's that compared to a pretty case.

[dalejefferson]

Can't wait!
Will be great for reading ebooks, I have a Nokia 770 at the moment but battery life is only <3 hours and the screen is very small.

[cnbiz850]

Living in China after 11 years in US, I hope I can take the deal too.

[Daveski]

$175 OLPC now :-(

Plus it looks like MS are getting in on the act. I hope it isn't 'getting the OLPC up to spec for Windows' that is increasing the cost...

http://blogs.zdnet.com/hardware/?p=379

[Polygon]

they wont make windows run on it, windows is too resource intensive and 3 dollars is still more then free.

id buy one, it would be a very cheap but functional laptop. Not to mention that it has some mesh internet connecting thing (as in connects to nearby other OLPC computers) and it has a crank for charging the battery.

[EdThaSlayer]

~I wouldn't want to buy 1 for these reasons:~
1. Lacks the muscle that modern day laptops have
2. Doesn't have design a teenager or adult would like

~I would want to buy 1 for these reasons:~
1. It's nice and portable
2. Battery power is quite long
3. It's cheap :)

[Macintosh Sauce]

I would definitely buy two of them so a child that really needed one could get one easily. Very cool idea IMO.

[Kimm]

Actually the "first world" is Europe only :P (the second being America, and the third parts of Asia and Africa) :P
Sorry, just needed to comment on that XD

To return to the topics subject: This is great! :D

[MonkeyBoy]

You sure about that?

I was always under the impression that it all relates to the cold war.

First world countries are the countries who sided with the US; Second world countries sided with the USSR; and the third world was everyone else.

Actually having looked at Wikipedia there is a definition relating to economies that probably applies better to current usage but that still makes the US first world along with us!

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Second_World

Also I have downloaded a live cd of the sugar os that the OLPC laptop runs and it looks great. I hope loads of people get them 'cos the wifi mesh will be better that way.

[Daveski]

At least the MS involvement shouldn't kill the FOSS involvement:


* Please note that even though Microsoft has stated that they are porting Windows to the XO, OLPC has no intention of abandoning Linux and the principles of FOSS. One corollary of being open is that anyone, including proprietary software manufacturers, are free to develop for our platform.

http://www.linux.com/article.pl?sid=07/04/28/1554259

[wacky_ninjas]

Plus it looks like MS are getting in on the act.

Ugh. This threatens to go against one of the OLPC "Core Principles", at least in spirit - free and open source:

http://wiki.laptop.org/go/Core_principles#free_and_open_source


A world of great software and content is necessary to make this project succeed, both open and proprietary. Children need to be able to choose from all of it. In our context of learning where knowledge must be appropriated in order to be used, it is most appropriate for knowledge to be free. Further, every child has something to contribute; we need a free and open framework that supports and encourages the very basic human need to express.

Give me a free and open environment and I will learn and teach with joy.

This doesn't say that they can't use any proprietary SW, but pre-installing Windows on these boxes would end up limiting the children's choice, just as it does to users in M$'s home markets.

On the other hand, if these laptops are really distributed fairly, then this could end up being the best PR for Linux ever. What happens if a billion 3rd-world kids see both the Sugar UI (on Linux) and Windows - and decide that they like Sugar better?