$100 Laptop
Posted : July 21, 2005 at 9:28 pm [IST]
Here is one more initiative that will interest all the school going children. I am talking of a $100 laptop (hundred dollar laptop, HDL) or it is better if I call it ‘Smart Slate’ or universal learning tool. I have using computer this way only. I prepare the framework of my write-up and then go on changing and upgrading it till it satisfies me. Is it not the slate that we used in our childhood in rural school, but one with immense capacity?
Nicholas Negroponte, founder and chairman of MIT’s Media Lab plans to build 100-200 million of these laptops HDLs every year and distribute them to the children of the poor world. His vision is unique. ” Whatever big problem you can imagine, from world peace to the environment to hunger to poverty, the solutions always includes education. We need to depend more on peer-to-peer and self-driven learning. The laptop is one important means doing that.” I consider this initiative as one that will make Eklavyas’ learning process and life easier.
Is a $100 laptop possible to manufacture? Negroponte plans to do away with three expensive components- Microsoft Windows, traditional flat panel screen, and a hard-drive. Under his plan, Linux and other open source software will eliminate the operating system cost; display will use either a rear projection screen or a type of electronic ink invented at Media Lab; and a flash memory with one gigabyte’s worth of files for hard-drive. And to meet the situation where the electricity is not available, the machine will be powered by a crank or ” parasitic power”- that is typing. HDLs will automatically connect to one another using a “mesh network” developed at MIT and Media Lab, where each laptop serves as an information node. Households that have HDLs will be able to communicate with each other by e-mail or voice calls. Nagroponte wants every mesh network to have access to the Internet and the laptop loaded with Skype that provides telephone calls free. He also aims to have the Internet access for not more than $1 per month per child. He is already talking with Chinese firms to manufacture HDLs and I am sure they will do that.If they can do a DVD at $30 or less, why can’t they do this $100 laptop? Why can’t some Indian firms or IITs work for similar project?But why can’t Microsoft offer its ‘Windows’ free for this project? Why can’t the hard-drive be made cheaper?
Is it not a unique project?
After reading the article in ‘Technology Review‘, I wrote an e-mail to the writer. I wish it could go to Negroponte.
jasson.pontin@technologyreview.com
Dear Jason,
I fully endorse your $100 laptop project. However, I wish it should not be distributed free. It must have a price- however small it may be. And you start giving it to students when they hit Class 6 standard or 10 years of age. May be that the school bank provides the loan to the students interested in having one. The student must commit to return the money when he starts earning. There may not be any collateral required for the loan. The student must also make a written vow to use it for learning purpose only. It will make them responsible and arouse the interest to learn it and use it for the desired purpose.
Secondly, I am sure the technology and managers can find solution to bring it out within the target cost by innovation in design, material, and process of manufacturing. If Tata Motors can produce a 4-wheeler car in Rs 1,00,000 (Rs 43.5=$1), if Motorola can build a cellular phone for $40, a $100 laptop must be technically feasible. I wish the project a grand success. I wish I could keep track on the progress of the project.
- Indra
Category: Employment/Education |
Leave a Comment