OLPC will be powered by pulling a string

We've been following Nicholas Negroponte's One Laptop Per Child initiative ever since the machine was still priced below $100, but once they jettisoned the hand crank, we've been wondering how they're going to deliver power to the 500MHz device. Enter Squid Labs, an R&D firm chock full of MIT Media Lab grads -- the same lab that Negroponte founded and ran for many years -- with an innovative human-powered generator that works by repeatedly tugging on a string in a motion similar to firing up a gas-powered lawnmower or snowblower. The team at Squid designed the external generator so that one minute of pulling yields ten minutes of computing, and included an electronic variable motor loading feature so that it can be operated by users of varying strength. Another nice feature of this system is that it can be configured in a number of different ways: users can either hold the device in one hand and pull the string with the other, or clamp it to a desk and operate the string with their legs. As long as further testing confirms the design's durability, and a better option doesn't come along, it looks like we'll be seeing classrooms full of string-pulling students when the laptop finally goes into mass production next year.

[Via Slashdot]

[AUA @ Jul 24th 2006 5:39PM]

There's probably another source of human-power that these children would already be familiar with, rather than a pullstring.

http://content.answers.com/main/content/wp/en/thumb/1/10/200px-Singer_sewing_machine_table.jpg

[Mjf @ Jul 24th 2006 5:43PM]

#1

thats exactly what i was thinking, theres one of those in my house right now actually same thing.

it would work alot better if when they clamped it down that way and just used that, although it being a laptop needs to be slightly more portable

[Todd @ Jul 24th 2006 5:48PM]

That little thing is so cool - and the One Laptop per Child initiative is great too...

But doesn't this laptop use Linux? If so, it will never EVER see the light of day after Microsoft lawyers get a hold of it.

[jorellh @ Jul 24th 2006 5:51PM]

This is a joke right? You're pulling my string...err leg. This is the best idea they could come up with?

[Kyle @ Jul 24th 2006 5:59PM]

It runs Fedora?!

[Kevin M. @ Jul 24th 2006 6:04PM]

If only it ran Ubuntu... of course im sure those kids know how to burn ISO images onto CD-Rs. not.

[Andrew C @ Jul 24th 2006 6:12PM]

In all seriousness, if they could even make this work for 5 minutes on a regular laptop, I would want it. Pull on a string every few minutes? That is more than OK with me. I actually think that would come in handy seeing as laptop batteries become practically useless after about 2 years (mine included). If I was in an airport and could just pull on a string, that would be heaven.

Andrew C

[tcc3 @ Jul 24th 2006 6:22PM]

(see and say voice) The computer says 11011010110101 (/see and say voice

[Wayfarer @ Jul 24th 2006 6:22PM]

in all honesty, strapping the laptop to a desk and pulling a string sounds tedious. If it were up to me I would use a fishing style thingy like they have on most flashlights that run on generators.

[B @ Jul 24th 2006 6:25PM]

http://theepicenter.com/sofalords/giffiles/photos/see_and_say.gif

[Sam @ Jul 24th 2006 6:31PM]

This is also a good way for people to get some exercise. We don't want those African kids gaining on American proportions.

[Zeke @ Jul 24th 2006 6:34PM]

...and what about the kids who are unable to pull strings?

(only half kidding.)

[Travis @ Jul 24th 2006 6:34PM]

I think that this is a good idea. Although pulling on a string can be very tedious and annoying to adults, I think that it will teach kids that in order to get something work needs to be put into it. And also, it seems like this way of power is a lot cheaper in the long run as opposed to battery life.

[x23 @ Jul 24th 2006 6:49PM]

*knock knock knock*

(door opens)


mother : "oh my god... what are you doing?!?!"

(son turns around)

son : "no... mom! you don't understand... i'm just charging my laptop!"

(mom runs away crying)

[DT @ Jul 24th 2006 6:59PM]

@ x23
Hahahaha! I was just about to post something just like that!

At least the motion of charging the laptop will get them ready for the main purpose of computers: porn!

[Mark @ Jul 24th 2006 6:59PM]

They could make it say amusing quotes when the string goes back into the laptop. Like those dolls they used to sell when I was a kid. Just to annoy parents that bit more.

[riggs @ Jul 24th 2006 7:07PM]

*pulls string*:
the hacker says "PWND!"

[wako @ Jul 24th 2006 7:13PM]

I can smell the recall already and the world hating Mr. Negroponte.


Pulling a string to charge the computer? That is a great idea, and probably will work, and the amount of work put it and the time it puts out is amazing. However pulling a string? Once that string gets tugged enough, that thing will snap and you have a 100 dollar useless computer that the world invested in.

[morty salt @ Jul 24th 2006 7:20PM]

The computer on the left sure looks like it is running some form of an Apple OS.

[whiskey @ Jul 24th 2006 7:21PM]

First a quote: "I think that it will teach kids that in order to get something work needs to be put into it" ---
OMG.. Believe me they DO KNOW that in ways i can even begin to describe... so don't say that, because not one of us here knows really what they go through just to get something.
Second... What about kinetics, some of this kids (most of them) have to walk a long way to get to school... What about making a device that would use of such motion? (A good alternative since if they do not walk to school a great distance, they still play so something attached to their arms or legs could store this energy later to be attached to the computer and stored to the battery) it will surely help along with the string pulling or cranking... (So those who cannot pull the string would still be able to get energy from their parent's day of work or somebody else).

[Blin @ Jul 24th 2006 8:27PM]

I guess now this $100 computer has strings attached.

sorry, I just had to say it

[Brian @ Jul 24th 2006 8:39PM]

This is how I get my girlfriend out of bed on her grumpy days.

[d0gp00p @ Jul 24th 2006 9:01PM]

I really don't understand why they got rid of the hand crank. I mean the string does not seem like it will have the durability of the hand crank. unless the "string" is some type of strong but lightweight wire or something. It just seems like it's a step backward.

[CM @ Jul 24th 2006 9:17PM]

Let's see: string + power = Yoyodyne?

[Unregistered @ Jul 24th 2006 9:57PM]

Why not a pedal? Or something like an ballon-pump that you can step on with a foot?

[Shig the Unmentionable @ Jul 24th 2006 11:02PM]

At long last, a way to stay charged for the entire trans-Atlantic flight. Just make sure to bring a raw steak, for all the black eyes you're going to give the guy sitting next to you.

[z @ Jul 25th 2006 1:15AM]

Is that Mac OS X running on the left machine? Is there some announcement to be made on the opensourceness of Mac OS X at the next dev conf?

[z @ Jul 25th 2006 1:17AM]

Ok, I found my answer, it's fedora linux... http://fedoraproject.org/wiki/FedoraMain Too bad, or maybe not! ;-)

[DrBuzz0 @ Jul 25th 2006 1:24AM]

Um...I'm sure this has been brought up before... But as far as giving poor African kids laptops...er... laptops are great and all and could help with education. But how about giving them something else, such as vaccines or water purifiers or food or something?

Also. Um... Have they come up with a plan for getting internet access with these yet? I keep hearing "We'll use wifi!" Because Wifi is so hot and all. The only problem with that is...um...it's not especially good at reaching remote villages in Africa. I mean...it can have pretty damn good range with line of sight...but um...yea...Africa is big. Getting the damn thing to go a couple hundred miles requires a giant dish and perfect terain.

WiMax might be a bit better. However, it's still a going to require quite a few transmitters to cover a place the size of....um....Africa.

I can see it now. As the cameras flash, a poor kid is handed his first laptop for during a big photo op. He turns and says "Gee thanks mister. But do you have anything that can treat my mother's Yellow Fever? Or anything to help with the spread of AIDS in my village? Or any food for that matter?"

[trex @ Jul 25th 2006 3:35AM]

They need a cure for aids there if anything tossing thousands of these laptops aint goona cure them. They need help and it aint in the way of trying to find out what a laptop does. These people are dieing and we are goona send them laptops. what a great idea people are thinking..... Hey mister you happen to have the cure to aids. No son i dont but heres a laptop. the kid will probably die before he has enough of time to wank the machine on

[Joshua Stein @ Jul 25th 2006 10:11AM]

Hey, it took almost thirty comments before the "But the poor don't need laptops, they need ____". That has to be a new record when discussing OLPC.

There are groups working to feed the poor, and medicate the poor, and cure aids, etc. This is about closing the technology gap, and job training.

Of course, given that many of the computer literate in Africa are using these skills to dupe people out of money via eBay, I'm not convinced that this is the way to help Africa out of the economic toilet, but at least Negroponte is trying something different.

[Galley @ Jul 25th 2006 11:14AM]

So what happens if the string breaks?

[some guy. @ Jul 25th 2006 12:20PM]

"The device meets other key criteria, too, including durability and ease of use. If the string breaks, for instance, it can be easily replaced with a shoe string, or a similar object. And the generators should cost less than $10 apiece, Bulthaup says."

Oh lord... I can just see it now... YAMP (Yet another money pit) Just like the PSP, iPod, and any other device out there. But in a different form, instead of buying songs and the like, they will be buying shoestrings and new generators constantly... These people are just another "American Money Sponge" company.

[Aaron Smith @ Jul 25th 2006 12:49PM]

It seems to me that stopping to pull a string every 10 minutes is going to be a distraction from learning, which is what the laptop is really meant to help facilitate.

[Z @ Jul 26th 2006 6:07AM]

One minute of yanking on a string for only ten minutes of power?

Can anyone say repetitive stress injuries?


I know they have to be creative here, but this is not a good idea for a thousand reasons.

[firenze @ Jul 26th 2006 4:02PM]

DrBuzz

The wifi is actually for Mesh networking to connect all of the kids in the village to each other and to the central $100 200Gig server that they are also rolling out, which will come preloaded with educational materials. The laptops only have like 500MB of flash memory for storage. For now, there is no internet connection assumed, though in the forseeable future, the wifi will be useful for this too.

[Flashzap @ Aug 24th 2006 3:54PM]

Good lord, people. Reading these comments is depressing. Has the whole world gone insane?

First - if the pull-cord works, why not use it? It sounds like a good idea, especially for use in places where - guess what - people can't rely on constant access to reliable electrical power.

Second - repetitive stress injuries? Are you joking? Please tell me you're joking. What do you think people did for, oh, the last five thousand years, before computers, when they had to do things like make homes out of logs and wash clothes by hand? Gross movements don't cause RSI, it's little stuff like typing that does that. You should be more worried about the keyboard use than pull-string injuries.

Third - oh yeah, I'm so sure people will be spending 60% of their yearly wages to replace... shoestrings. Conspiracy-minded nutcases aside, who honestly thinks that this is designed to be a money-maker via replacement parts? That's incredibly dumb. Oh, and one of your "American money sponge" examples is, uh, Japanese, by the way.

Fourth - the comment "what about those kids who can't pull strings?" is just silly. There will always be a small percentage of people that can't use any given device. Does that mean we should stop making them? If I lose a hand in an accident, should the whole world bend over backward to change everything in existence, just for me? How IS the weather in Utopia, by the way?

Fifth - to those who say "the poor need food and medicine, not computers" - hey, I have an idea. How about you pursue your OWN cause and leave other people to pursue theirs? If you want to see change, get off your butt and do something yourself. But there's nothing more hypocritical than sitting on the sidelines, picking at those who DO things instead of just CRITICIZE, like a flock of vultures. As it is, there are already tons of organizations providing food and medicine. Nobody is working as hard on education, and that's what we call an "opportunity".

Unbelievable. Sometimes I think the entire population of the civilized world has been replaced with fault-finding, useless pussies. It's depressing.