Given that a
number of companies have been
boasting of their computing plans for the developing world in recent weeks, it's kind of a relief to see Nicholas
Negroponte back in the spotlight talking up the
One Laptop Per Child
project. Especially when he's willing to be so free with the box's specs. Speaking at the LinuxWorld conference in
Boston, Negroponte shed some light on his plans for the OLPC, including more concrete specs than we've seen before. The
mini-laptop will be powered by a 500 MHz AMD processor, will have 128MB RAM and 512MB of flash memory for storage. It'll
also include an LCD display that will switch from an 1180x830 black-and-white mode for daylight viewing to 640x480 color
for indoor use. He also revealed that, despite
Bill Gates' reservations about the OLPC
project, Negroponte is working with Microsoft on a version of Windows CE that will work on the computer. Negroponte also
said the laptops will be extremely stingy when it comes to power consumption, using just 2 watts, one of which will run
the display. However, despite that low power, he said that one of the most recognizable features of the original OLPC
prototype (above), its handcrank, will have to go -- not because it can't generate enough power, but because it would
put too much stress on the box (more
recent prototypes have already
jettisoned the crank). However, an adapter to allow the machine to run on pedal power is planned. Negroponte also had
some bad news for his hosts at LinuxWorld (as if anything could be worse than saying he supports Windows CE): he said
the penguin OS is as bloated as Windows, and will need to slim down to run on the OLPC. We suspect that his words
didn't go over very well -- and that a half-dozen open-source projects to shrink Linux down to size were started within
an hour.
posted Apr 4th 2006 2:57PM
have the riots started over at /. yet?
Does it play Doom?
I'm still scratching my head as to what problem the OLPC project is trying to solve. I mean, the guy's passionate about his project and really seems to care, but what needs is he really addressing and who's he targeting with this? If it's the 3rd world and Africa, I think food, water, shelter and medicines and health care are more urgent needs.
"...he said the penguin OS is as bloated as Windows"
The man gets it. If I recall correctly, he was planning on utilizing a version of Red Hat. Red Hat, I would argue, is in its default form more bloated than XP. It's just sloppy.
Now, if he went with Gentoo or something, he'd probably have an easier time.
#2 we have been over this a thousand times. It's not for extremely poor countries that don’t have the basic necessities. It's for developing countries that have their basic needs covered and getting a computer and learning on it can help them get a job.
Wow, yeah, let's put Windows (CE) on it. That's a great idea. It will work for what about 3 days and then the OLPC will becomes a door-stop for the 3rd world. A "footnote" of sorts.
My laptop is actually powered by love
Pedal Power? at least get a hand crank that works detached from the laptop... geez...
Seriously, is anybody else picturing some kid on a treadmill with plugs in the laptop all like, "You can do it" and "This laptop is lame"
Just... wow, that's all I gotta say
Crank was good... you bafoons
One Windows CE install per child = one more PC vulnerable to viruses, malware and botnet takeover per novice user. Linux can already be slimmed down to fit on a CD (if not a floppy)... so even if microsoft is matching the price, what on earth are they providing that Red Hat cannot? Why CE and not embedded? It was a good thought, but #6 is right; I think this will turn out to be one doorstop per child once they're connected to the internet.
Didn't Steve Jobs offer OSX for free? I think Microsoft is paying money to be included in this one. Saturate the developing world with Microsoft, thus locking in more mindshare... Hell, yes, Microsoft will pay for that. Any MIT guy should know that he can get a decent Linux OS that isn't bloated. Negroponte sold out on his goals of using open source because of one or more of the following: he is unresourceful, he is too lazy to roll a custom version of Linux, he bought into the FUD, or he just liked the extra payola.
I think the idea of these sorts of projects is to give people access to information that could help them immeasureably. It's not like there are libraries or advanced schools in most of the places these items will be targeted at... but having access to, say, ebooks on medicine, advanced irrigation techniques, etc... would be pretty useful. Access to online resources that had information on those topics and every other one that could be useful, even better. Especially if there were also forums/knowledgebases about the region's specific tasks and issues (so if one village dealt with a specific crop blight, they can quickly tell all the other villages in the region how to do the same thing, for example) would also be a boon.
That said, I don't really see why every child would need a laptop - it seems like having a few central ones, but with (dependable) satellite internet would be perhaps a better idea...
"...so even if microsoft is matching the price, what on earth are they providing that Red Hat cannot?"
Chocolate-covered puppies wrapped in kitten bacon.
Who will fix these machines when they break down?
Alot of opposition to the kids getting "spoiled with gadgets". I think this is a great idea, if they were starting up a program to send books would you say "we don't need to SPOIL them with books, let them play with sticks!!" These are not playstation alternatives, the future of learning will completely phase out tangible text books, many colleges already sell digital textbooks. this is a cost and size effective way to give a kid an entire library and give them the knowledge to make it in this world... I think you're just pissed you don't have one :)
Windows CE? Why why and why?
Like 80% of the computers in the world alreadt run Windows and I guess soon 80% of the MobilePhones too. Do we realy want Windows in this project? No wonder why people have a hard time switching so something else when Windows is all they know...
#3, #8.. I am sure you guy have seen the influence of computers in the schools here, I mean look at all the benefits... Lower test scores than ever, higher budgets to replace the computers every three years. Here in Portland they have one of the highest budgets in the US and they still have to close early for lack of money. If only they would stop wasting money here...
And yet they want to shove more computers in schools. Kids learned better when there were no or few computers in school. Teachers just want computers so they can leave it to the computer to teach them. Lazy...
I really liked the hand crank.....
Negroponte did not say his laptop would USE windows CE. He says that he is allowing microsoft to port to windows CE to olpc. either as a backup plan, or so users can have choice between Linux and Windows CE.
The reason he is exposing this in LinuxWorld is to make the Free Software community aware of their bloat problem, so his team does not need to fix it alone =)
um, someone point this moron to the Nokia 770. it has a 200Mhz cpu, 64 ram and 128 flash and linux runs on it just fine, though it would be better with 128 ram.
And it has a browser, games (enter- and edu-tainment), word processor, spreadsheet, media player, etc. there's no lack of features, so what's the OLPC project doing wrong?
Great...
"Majungah Bohutsi is in your extended network"
These kids don't need computers, they need bloody revolution and regime change.
"Give a man a fish, feed him for a day. [b]TEACH[/b] a man how to fish, feed him for life."
We're already pouring millions of dollars into developing nations for "essential" needs, but what we really need to do is address the perpetual problem of a lack of education and opportunities.
2nd, why not just make a plug in hand crank? Just have it connect via wire or whatever, and ship it with the PC, it doesn't seem like a hard thing to do.
I have to disagree #15. blaming computers for poor test scores is wrong. blame the parents, blame the teachers but not a tool that can be a great resource and tool for learning. wiki anyone? besides, most jobs these days require somebody that is computer literate. and what are you complaining about anyway. I supposed you don't use this site to get information on new technology.
18: but it's an OS optimised for an ARM system and no doubt has huge amount of assembler and very specific drivers for the system. It simply wouldn't work on an x86 based system without huge amounts of work.
Why use CE? compatability for one thing and there's a large software bank already available for it which should run without fiddling. A custom version of linux would need source code of aps to be re-written (even if these changes are small and minor) so while yes linux has thousands of aps, unlessed they're re-written slightly and compiled, they wouldn't run on the system. These systems are supposed to reduce countries reliance on outside help, not increase it.
Not to lots Linux apps have some user interfaces that are a complete nightmare for novices
yay go amd
#22
Although its a 500mhz AMD processor, its most probably one of AMDS Alchemy line of processors, which are an evolution of the MIPS core, i.e. non x86.
These processors are similar to the ARMs, in their low power use.
Wow, I don't think I've ever seen as much misinformation as in these comments. Next time, read the primary source:
http://wiki.laptop.org/wiki/One_Laptop_per_Child
Hardware specs have been there for months, and OLPC is still using Linux (Red Hat is hard at work slimming it down to fit).
#21, I am not blaming the computers. Computers are a tool. But sometimes you dont need a $1500 tool that needs to be replaced with a newer version every few years. Plus you need to pay for new versions of the accessories (Software) to keep these things up to date. (That is where this olpc has a good idea using linux).
You learn way more looking things up in a library and manually writing this down to note and then to rough and final drafts. Where is the learning in typing "tropical fish" into google, copy and pasting from 10 different sites and editing a few words to get by plagarism (sp?).
What I am saying computers are a usefull tool, but way over emphasized in education. It is just not the be all to education as to what people think.
18: Have you ever used a Nokia 770? I'm not saying that a bloatless Linux distro isn't possible, but that isn't a good example at all. It's downright painfully slow sometimes.
no hand crank? suprise suprise.
i'm a designer, not an engineer so i respect the idea of the "concept" but even I am good enough with physics to know you aren't gonna get something with a backlit display running a (mostly) full-fledged OS running with a handcrank.
idea is excellent but not feasable yet.
i wrote the PR person a couple months ago telling them how its irresponsible to show that very preliminary concept just to get funding. unless you expect these whole classrooms of kids holding the device with one hand and and cranking with the other...half of the time. they would end up sprint-cranking and dropping these things every 10 minutes.
pedals might work....
pedels? might as well put these on bikes in the gym, so people can surf the internet while they're working out.
To all those who claim that linux can't be small and fast, go take a look at http://handhelds.org and http://www.damnsmalllinux.org/ . I've had the main distro at handhelds, Familiar, running for years on my ancient Ipaq 3650 with 32mb of ram and a 216mhz ARM cpu. It's quick, relatively stable, and generally has anything a handheld could need. I've used damnsmall perfectly on a Pentium 166 MMX laptop that could barely run Windows 95 at an acceptable speed. Damnsmall is a slimmed down version of Debian. And for completeness, I've used every version of Pocket PC from 2000 to Windows Mobile 5. Contrary to some uninformed Engadget readers, it is not prone to security and virus problems. It works quite well for basics like web browsing and word processing, as well as more advanced things like GPS, speech recognition, multimedia playback, and gaming. Any of the three previously mentioned platforms would run well on a 500mhz Alchemy, and would complete the necessary funtions for free (to correct a previous poster, it was Gates who offered open source WinCE for free, not Jobs with OS X [Like OS X would even run on a 500mhz mips]).
Bloated? So, use Maemo Linux. Problem solved - it's already optimized for low-power portable applications.
I think the article and this post are incorrect about the processing specs. According to the OLPC project wiki although the chip is called the AMD Geode GX500, it's really a 366MHz chip.
http://wiki.laptop.org/wiki/Hardware_specification#First_Generation_System
"19. Great...
"Majungah Bohutsi is in your extended network"
These kids don't need computers, they need bloody revolution and regime change."
Are you talking about America?
Mack Swift = Negroponte's field is technology, not medicine or food.
Bitch elsewhere.
Maybe Gnome and KDE are too bloated...but Linux itself holds up rather well on embedded systems. I'm posting this from my kitchen table on Sharp Zaurus SL-C1000 (400MHz Xscale, 64MB RAM, 128MB flash). Witin 128MB I have firefox, abiword, a real xserver, image viewer, ssh/sftp server/client, and some games. I still have lots of flash left to store documentation, documents and images. Granted, firefox drags its ass a little, but there are a couple good non-xul gecko based browsers that would make a very suitable replacement. If they're having trouble making Linux play nice on that thing they aren't trying hard enough.
#5 - WRONG
Negroponte's inspiration came from giving laptops to some Cambodian children. They used them as light bulbs. They are not a developing country, and they are not just one laptop away from a good job.
I love that the specs keep shifting, and people just keep lapping it up. It DOESN'T EXIST. If it did, and if it was actually true he showed a working prototype in November to Kofi, we would have known all this months ago. But he didn't. Didn't keep it from being reported as true, of course.
The bottom line is the guy's a genius. People are lining up to give him journalistic fellatio over a couple of 3D rendered images and a bad idea that sounds nice if you don't think it through.
It's fun to read the news on the laptop.org site and realize just how far back in the planning stage the project really is.
Questions: How much further from the orginal spec can this get and still have people breathlessly awaiting the next press release? Does he have to be accountable for anything he's said? Is there any recourse for countries that have made commitments based on earlier designs, or is he just selling his intentions? At what point is it a failure?
My prediction is, no one will care how much money gets wasted on this, and no one will follow up with the countries that committed to buying into this garbage. Negroponte will still have his reputation as a humanitarian though.
Umm....I'm sure most of you have been contacted by Nigerians with an urgent need to secure a large inheritance that has been reserved for you with a Western Union transfer to the nether nethers deep in the heart of Abuja. Not to put too fine a point on this, but a representatively large proportion of these toys will make their way there. Are we not, Dear Engadgeters, risking a new generation of mass spammers just waiting to entice us with long forgotten African riches by giving these Starvin' Marvins a first principles education in malware? Just give them a copy of "How to dupe friends and con people" while you're at it why don't you....Let them eat cake.....(and Windows embedded)...
I can't believe you can't find a micro-Linux or DSM (Damn Small Linux) distro that's smaller than WinCE.
The first time I ever even saw a computer was when I was in 4th grade (~1989) at my friends house. His dad was a big dork. The only program it had that we were interested in was a little thing called QBASIC.
That one day changed my entire life.
Programming computers shapes a childs mind to understand abstract systems. When you live in a third-world country, the most abstract system most kids deal with is currency.
These computers could change the way that children perceive and view the nature of the universe. The internet isn't everything. If I would have had access to a $100 computer with QBASIC on it when I was younger, who knows where I would be today.
Word processing? Spreadsheets? These can be accomplished with pencil and paper, not to mention they in no way encourage abstract thought. Programming something with advanced branching algorithms involving recursion? You need a computer for that, and understanding such an abstract systematic process could change a child's life. It sure changed mine. Just my 2 cents.
Computer or Food? You descide.
Some kids in developing countries have never seen an electronic gadget. I think his Mr. Negroponte's idea is a good one. Wouldn't it be better to give these kids the tool to be able to uplift their communities? Giving them food and then forgetting them after the initial buzz isn't going to help them any better. You'll just teach them to be dependent. We want them Independent, and self-sufficient, and I think this project can help them be in touch with the world. It's time we use this kind of technology to help level the playing field between a child from a developing country, and a child of well-developed country.
I would like to thank #17, hippie, for actually reading the article. Negroponte isn't replacing Linux with Windows on the machine, he was just responding to a question about Bill Gates comments. Apparently he was upset since he has been talking to Microsoft constantly during all this and was shipping them development boards so they (meaning Microsoft) could make another version of CE that could possibly run on the hardware.
Negroponte doesn't seem to changing a thing there.
These people have no running water or even toilet paper (India). Is a PC really what would benefit these folks the most? I think a pc is not too high on their wish list regardless of OS.
It has been well reported that giving internet access to people in developing contries saves lives. Often it's not because people have a new skill and therefore can get a better job often it's because they can find information out, such as getting a weather forcast so can stay on land and not go fishing when a storm is due or getting health advice.
I think that one per child is rather over the top though, a few per village would be a good starting point as it then allows more villages to benifit from it.
If size of the OS is issue, then why not use Palm OS, it's even smaller than windows CE, more stabe, runs on lower speced computers & has loads of free software titles for it already, admitatdly some new drivers would be needed (for keyboards and the like). It also has the bonus that you don't need to remember to save your work or where you saved it, just which program you used. Also the OS would require very little programing to change from one contry to the next as there is very little in the way of text used in the OS.
Just another shout out for Linux. As one poster mentioned it runs fine on the Xscale 416mhz C-1000. And at that, don't forget it ran just fine on the SL-5500 which only had a StrongARM 206mhz (and for my money [and I actually did buy both] it was a bit snappier on the 5500...but it was a different distro).
Come to think of it, the new kid on the block Linspire (well actually, it's pre-MS-lawsuit incarnation "Lindows 3.0") ran reasonably well on my old Compaq Notebook 100. And that sad lappy only had 96MB of ram and a 425mhz K6II...an AMD processor at that. It was no speedster, but it was quite usable. And what with Micheal Robertson's endlessly benevolent image (fact or fiction ? You be the judge) I'm sure he'd support this initiative with either free licensing or at least a subsidised/volume price plan (with tax breaks of course...Penguins gotta eat too...).
As for viruses and crashing...I've had a number of WinCE based devices (I currently still have a few). They do crash occasionally, but if you're not tinkering with the guts they are pretty stable. And there are VERY FEW viruses that attack the CE line. So if you're gonna hate on MS products for being crash happy and for having more viruses than a $5 hooker, stick to the product lines that REALLY have those problems (it's not like they're rare...).
Great. You all got your two cents in... The pedal is stupid, the crank is lovely, windows CE is a piece of crap (Gates is a greedy jerk for even suggesting getting involved in this project) and this will turn the thirld world into starving myspacers with viruses on their laptops..great.
Still we are just a bunch geeks posting on an article. The guy seems determined and I'm sure he is going to launch this project whether want CE on the unit or not. Why don't we all take a breather, sit back, and see what happens. I think its a good trial and error project. If he is right a revolution will begin, if he is wrong we will see these things on ebay faster than you can say 'removable handcrank, open office, firefox and linux would have been my way to go'
After the basics are met: a program that would put one of these laptops, a cellphone, bicycle in each villiage & solar charged LED lighting & mosquito nets in each home would be a target to aim for.
But at current they can't afford any of it, and foreign aid works out to be about $12 per person/per year in sub-Saharan; of which little gets to the ones who need it.
Even if they ship OLPC's for free then people would have the benifit of learning about the world, while they lay dying of malaria because they still couldn't afford the $2 for a subsidized mosquito net.
Aw crap looks like the 'deets' word filter is broken again.
This guy has turned into a major prick and turn coat, screw him there is already light version of linux as a task to the multi version there are out there, one for every shape, size, and form. Any future donations from me are now out the window, as M$ that problem solved and proceeds toward world domination, WE ARE DOOMED!
This guy has turned into a major prick and turn coat, screw him, there is already light version of linux as a task to the multi versions there are out there already, one for every shape, size, and form. Any future donations from me are now out the window, as M$ that problem solved and proceeds toward world domination, WE ARE DOOMED!
Negroponte "gets it". The MIT Media Lab, which he founded, is an insanely interesting place that cooks up all kinds of ideas, some absurd sounding even, but nonetheless interesting ideas to try and make technology more useful for mankind.
I heard NN talk at a conference several years back, and he is a very engaging speaker, and he seems extremely interested in global economics, education, the disparity between the tech haves and have-nots, and getting the have-nots access to information technology.
Negroponte "foresaw" (or at least talked about) all kinds of internet interconnected appliances, the rise of Asia in internet connectiveness, and several other "trends" years before they hit the mainstream press. The guy is no dummy.
With that said, I think the OLPC project is his way of trying to help third world contries compete in the new millenium economy. Africa, especially, is so poor - that you have to worry about agriculture especially, but also educating the populace about how they can empower themselves to break out of the current cycle of poverty and war. God knows the US, Asian powerhouses and Europe have failed to help the African countries in numerous ways. Perhaps access to real-time information and information literacy will help the people of Africa, and other 3rd world countries, lift themselves up a bit and have a greater voice in the world.
Peace.
Hey, I never had a laptop going through school and I still don’t have one going through college and I live in the United States. Why can’t I get a $100 laptop?