OLPC spin-off plans $75 laptop

According to a report in the New York Times today, a spin-off of OLPC is planning to launch a competitor to the company's $200 XO laptop. Mary Lou Jepsen, former CTO of the Nicholas Negroponte-led company, claims that her new organization, Pixel Qi, can do it cheaper and better. "Spinning out from OLPC enables the development of a new machine, beyond the XO [laptop], while leveraging a larger market for new technologies," Jepsen wrote on the company's website, adding, "Besides, I need that extra $125 for laundry and stuff." Jepsen claims that the cost of a device like the XO can be reduced by, "Allowing multiple uses of key technology advances." If you'll recall, the original target price for the XO was $100, back in the hazy, optimistic days of 2005. Using an advanced abacus coupled with a complex system of levers and pulleys, we've determined that when and if the Pixel Qi laptop makes it to market, the cost will be no less than $150, and Nicholas Negroponte will say something crazy about it.

[Josh F @ Jan 10th 2008 11:32AM]

claims that the cost "od" a device like ...

[McLogic @ Jan 10th 2008 1:22PM]

I don't know what "od" prices are but this will cost at least $150, as everything is HYPED at 1/2 the real price.

The XO was hyped at $100, but costs $200
The Eee was Hyped at $200 but costs $400

I bet that Pixel Qi are super-hyping the product and we will never see it below $300.

[Johan S @ Jan 10th 2008 11:33AM]

Whatever they do, I really hope the display can have 1024 pixels width in color.

[silverblackvoid @ Jan 10th 2008 1:11PM]

man you've got a weird fascination with sizes, dontcha?

[silverblackvoid @ Jan 10th 2008 1:11PM]

man you've got a weird fascination with sizes, dontcha?

[Prod1g3y @ Jan 10th 2008 11:33AM]

Why aren't people working WITH OLPC?!

Here's a guy trying to do a good thing and everyone else wants to take him down.

If OLPC got more orders from more countries the price would go down. Combined efforts and united resources would definitely contribute to lining up more orders and easily driving down the price of this thing!

[Boynamedsue @ Jan 10th 2008 12:07PM]

so wait. making a 75 dollar laptop thats just as good is trying to take him down?

Isn't this not about him?

Isn't this about providing laptops?

The more companies doing this, the happier Negroponte should be.

[Bosco @ Jan 10th 2008 12:22PM]

Maybe people and companies don't cooperate with him because he acts like an asshat. Napoleon Negroponte and OLPC are not entitled to any de facto monopoly or competition free zone when it comes to helping out impoverished kids. Nor are they entitled to a scrutiny free zone on how they plan to do it. Their implicit presumption and their supporters' assertions (like above) that they have some special immunity from competition and criticism is what will clobber them in the end. They have a lot to learn from their critics and competition. They need to take the opportunity to do so, or they will be trounced. That's just reality, harsh as it may sound to the do-gooders.

[Prod1g3y @ Jan 10th 2008 1:19PM]

Listen... if computers are being provided to these kids they should be provided with a standard in mind. How many computers with how many OSes are there going to be. The point is to help these people not intimidate them with all the computing options we have here!

If there was one standard computer, one standard OS, and one solid mission then maybe these kids will learn to operate like us in the first world countries. Until there is unanimous support nothing will get done and companies will be fighting each other more than they're paying attention to their so-called "goal"

If the Intels, Microsofts, and other companies of the world actually joined together in this sector to build it up and make its people more sophisticated in their demands then they can monetize the space later in 10 years. Until then - lets get everyone on the same page!

[muddyh2o @ Jan 10th 2008 11:42AM]

um, thanks Mary Lou, not Mary Jo.

[paragraph @ Jan 10th 2008 11:53AM]

Methinks it's $175 pc not $75 pc... thats a pretty important 1...

[drakono @ Jan 10th 2008 12:15PM]

No. The article and the website make it clear that they're aiming for $75. The quote about $25 for laundry is confusing when put next to the $200 estimate for the XO, but I can't find the source for it to put it in context. My guess is that she was justifying why they were aiming so far below the $100 mark -- beyond the obvious reason of "we can."

[Speeddemon2008 @ Jan 10th 2008 11:44AM]

we can rebuild him. We have the technology.

[L @ Jan 10th 2008 11:58AM]

"Using an advanced abacus coupled with a complex system of levers and pulleys, we've determined that..."

*lol*

[eurobloke @ Jan 10th 2008 12:14PM]

I think what she trying to do is using her experience in the OLPC project and try to make a commercial product at a cheaper price and use competition to improve the small laptop market. She would probably be supportive of the OLPC, but this is a commercial product, not a intermediate technology product.

[dbs @ Jan 10th 2008 12:24PM]

This is a staggeringly misleading article, and is really out of character for thenormally excellent reporting that Engadget usually puts out.

First of all, the original NYT article never mentions 'competitor', not does it say "can do it better and cheaper". In fact a large percentage of the comments in the Engadget article have little or no basis in reality.

For a real understanding about what MLJ is doing, please read the interview with her on Groklaw, where she outlines what her next project is. It is NOT a competitor to the OLPC. It is simply going to the next step. She is not undermining the OLPC or it's project (she's in fact supporting it).

Engadget, for shame for such a sensationalistic and inaccurate commentary.

[Jason @ Feb 18th 2008 9:18AM]

I read the interview and bio of Mary Lou Jepsen from the link provided below by an earlier post:

http://www.groklaw.net/article.php?story=20080107182525297

"Jepsen invented the laptop's sunlight-readable display technology and co-invented its ultra-low power management system - and - has transformed these inventions into ready-to-ship hardware, integrated into the $100 laptop."

Basically, she's simply trying to utilize the technologies that she has created for OLPC and apply them toward the existing market for laptops. The OLPC was no ordinary notebook. It was a computing device using innovative technologies that don't even exist in the current laptop market.

Imagine what would happen if the Eee PC, Cloudbook, or any other future UMPC actually incorporating a bigger screen that's readable in direct sunlight? Or using power consumption that's 15 times lower than any other laptop on the market? Those are the things that Jepsen wants to bring to our current market rather than 3rd world countries. So, I don't really consider that as any form of "competition" against OLPC and I do agree that this article by Engadget is quite misleading.

Meet the XO
http://etech.eweek.com/content/desktops_and_notebooks/meet_the_xo.html

[OneLove @ Jan 10th 2008 12:25PM]

The same crap happens with every product. (even with TV shows). Someone comes out with a popular, profitable product and the company's duplicate it and fail. In the end its the consumer who loses. This time it happen to be kids.

[macona @ Jan 10th 2008 12:38PM]

Only when competition is stifled does the consumer loose.

Show me where a choice of products had been bad for the end user.

[OneLove @ Jan 10th 2008 1:26PM]

blu ray or hd dvd?

[RichardBronosky @ Jan 10th 2008 2:25PM]

@OneLove

Wow! Nice! I'm a die-hard capitalist, but I agree that the HiDef market is a disaster. (Although for me the biggest concern is DRM.)

I believe that competition here is good.

[OneLove @ Jan 11th 2008 1:06PM]

I never said competition isn't good.

[LordJohnWhorfin @ Jan 10th 2008 1:14PM]

Competition is always good, but the words "back-stabbing BIOTCH" do come to mind, tho.

[Ipaq3115 @ Jan 10th 2008 1:08PM]

Ha.. $75... Riiiiiiight

[Eric Van Hensbergen @ Jan 10th 2008 1:10PM]

Read the Groklaw interview (http://www.groklaw.net/article.php?story=20080107182525297) with Mary Lou Jepsen for the straight-story. She is not doing this to compete with OLPC, she is doing this to be able to provide components to OLPC for less cost. Stop the FUD.

[timbobsteve @ Jan 10th 2008 3:10PM]

This is just getting ridiculous people! Mary Lou has stated publically that her company is commercialising the same advances in technology that she brought to OLPC "in an effort to make it widespread and thus make it cheaper to build the OLPC". There is an official interview over at Groklaw for anyone that cares to actually read the fact.

Engadget I am disappointed. This is just hype and FUD on your part. Calling it a "competitor" to the OLPC is just "grand-standing" and sensationalising something without even reading up about it.

Here is the link for anyone that actually knows how to read: http://www.groklaw.net/article.php?story=20080107182525297

I apologise if another commentor on this board has already pointed out Engadgets complete lack of respect for the truth, but I haven't read any of the comments, I was so angry I just went straight to comenting myself.... somthing I usually don't do.

[taco @ Jan 10th 2008 7:13PM]

With the US dollar tanking like it is, they'll never hit those targets in US dollars.

[ThePete @ Jan 11th 2008 4:08AM]

Yeah, um, she'll be using tech she is *licensing* from OLPC. You know what that means, right kids? Yep! So, when we buy a $75 lappie in the 1st World, a portion of those 75 smackers goes back to OLPC, which helps put lappies in the hands of kids in the 3rd World. It's not really competition when you're paying them. So, by a laptop from Pixel Qi and you're actually helping a non-profit. Go figure.

Lovely that everyone bothers to take the time to do their research.

Why am I looking for work?? I can blog! I own an XO. Somebody hire me!! :)

[ThePete @ Jan 11th 2008 4:10AM]

Yeah, um, she'll be using tech she is *licensing* from OLPC. You know what that means, right kids? Yep! So, when we buy a $75 lappie in the 1st World, a portion of those 75 smackers goes back to OLPC, which helps put lappies in the hands of kids in the 3rd World. It's not really competition when you're paying them. So, by a laptop from Pixel Qi and you're actually helping a non-profit. Go figure.

Lovely that everyone bothers to take the time to do their research.

Why am I looking for work?? I can blog! I own an XO. Somebody hire me!! :)

[ThePete @ Jan 11th 2008 4:10AM]

Yeah, um, she'll be using tech she is *licensing* from OLPC. You know what that means, right kids? Yep! So, when we buy a $75 lappie in the 1st World, a portion of those 75 smackers goes back to OLPC, which helps put lappies in the hands of kids in the 3rd World. It's not really competition when you're paying them. So, by a laptop from Pixel Qi and you're actually helping a non-profit. Go figure.

Lovely that everyone bothers to take the time to do their research.

Why am I looking for work?? I can blog! I own an XO. Somebody hire me!! :)

[Nothing more or less @ Jan 13th 2008 4:19PM]

Hey I heard that India is trying to develop a $ 10 laptop, lol . How about that ?

[Lupe @ Jan 13th 2008 7:52AM]

A $75 version will be too slow to be any good for anyone.
http://ezinearticles.com/?id=893354

[TIB @ Jan 12th 2008 4:50PM]

if only they'd stop trying to copy the traditional laptop - there's no need. make the thing a watertight PDA form-factor device, with a 5" screen (that ought to be enough for anybody). this way the screen could double as a keyboard big enough to be operated by hand.

the screen cover, which would simply fold 360^ from over-the-screen, to behind-the-unit, could be used as a solar panel as well as a support for those times one wishes to just watch rather than input.

throw in some inductive-charging technology, and all the usual whistles and cow bells, and you'd have a unit not for $75, but $69.95 (or $59.9f if you act now).

we are living in a mobile world, with stylus and touch input gaining popularity. why make things complicated? this PDA-style device could do it all, and for less.

[mtjl79 @ Jan 25th 2008 7:31PM]

I don't understand why everyone is supporting this $75 laptop or this $200 laptop thing here. Wither you are in USA, UK, Europe or any other 1st world country...you act like this is a good thing.

What about all the people who make there living off the internet (graphic artists, web developers, programmers, and a whole slew of others!). The market is already saturated with Indian programmers who charge $4/hour for there services - how can an average freelancer in a 1st world country compete with that? We have worked our asses off here - the average consumer paid $1000's for hardware and software over time - and all of a sudden these countries get laptops for $100? Then they learn the things we do...and what happens to all the technology jobs here?

The only people that benefit from this whole thing is who? CORPORATE AMERICA! You people are so naive. They make it sound like they all want to help the world and do good things, when really all they are doing is introducing hardware and software to these countries at (yes, even a small profit) they use computer...guess what...more CONSUMERS. OPEN YOUR EYES PEOPLE. Why do you think they aren't all working together? Why do you think there is competition for the "cheapest laptop". Because there is damn profit. They want to make it as cheap as they can with there profits involved of course...and then they have CONSUMERS who are going to want to buy...laptop cases...new keyboards...better hardware...software...etc. etc.

Get freaking real people.

[Tom Buddington @ Feb 19th 2008 7:37AM]

This is the first guy in a long time to nail the truth squarely on the head.