Alright, so it won't be a laptop, adorable, or have a cheeky Linux-based OS that's eventually replaced by Windows, but unlike the
OLPC or the too-good-to-be-true
$10 laptop, the $12 PC currently being developed at MIT will probably hit its price target. The project, being spearheaded by Derek Lomas and Jesse Austin-Breneman, is centered around cheap Apple II-based machines currently on sale in India and other developing nations that plug into televisions, and the goal is to update the systems with more memory, web access through cellphone tethering and actual storage. Considering we've already seen Apple IIs updated with
Bluetooth and USB, and the less-powerful Commodore 64 can be used at
LAN parties, we'd say all that stands between this project and reality is manpower -- any Apple II hackers out there ready to help?
posted Aug 5th 2008 6:37PM
See? Apple products aren't expensive after all!
Clever.
The Apple II Plus was my first PC. I used to play around with BASIC on it for the most part. Fun for a while till my dad brought home an IBM. Wow, I thought the Apple was good... that IBM was freakin' awesome. Ahh, those were the days.
i hope they wont add a "0" after the $12 price as they did for the $10 laptops from India
Amazing. Only one poster who felt the need to brag about how long he's been computing.
It would be better if this machine were based on Amiga tech.
And yet you managed to do the same. Astonishing, Darwin, truly astonishing.
I am waiting for the $8 IBM-XT based PC.
This is exactly where super cheap computing should be looking for ideas! How may perfectly usable components are sitting in landfills right now when they could be repurposed? Mod an old box add some RAM, look third-world, it's computers!
I definitely agree, this could mean a pretty effective and cheap way to recycle any old, unused parts from pcs that no longer see the light of day. Developing countries should look ahead and maybe through their efforts they can progress and contribute heftily to a now modern society.
So yeah, the guy in the top right looks like a sex offender.
You need to look past the color of someone's skin.
Wow it's not his skin, it's the total pedo-smile/look he has going.
his name is lowest rank, what do you expect
let it be known that Lowest Ranked is a racist
U.S. Patent # 21,553,111:
An electronic device for detecting sarcasm on the internet which will cause its double-digit IQ user to jolt in an electronic-induced current of pain upon the detection that the user 'just doesn't get it'.
Ohhh! A sarcasm detector... now THERE'S a good idea.
U.S. Patent # 21,553,112:
An electronic device for tracking down and selectively neutering or spaying would-be comedians who blurt an insensitive or demeaning remark, only to come back later and call it "sarcasm".
U.S. Patent # 21,553,113:
An electronic device for tracking down and de-handing any flamers that, in his quest to sound both intelligent and insulting, constructs sentences so grammatically horrid that JeffK rolls over in his watery grave.
dude... why my protege be instigatin', yo?
No, it won't play Doom..
but does it blend?
But will it play Oregon Trail?
Might play Duke Nukem.
How did a blend comment get ranked up? wth is going on.
The trolls are taking over Engadget. Run!
@Podaman
Since it should have been will it blend instead of does it blend
But it will play Castle Wolfenstein
oh yes it has to play Oregon Trail.
I've got a Platinum IIe sitting in my garage that they can have.
This would seem to be a good alternative to either Microsoft et al's money grabbing approach or OLPC's pie-in-the-sky BS approach (http://www.engadget.com/2008/05/20/olpc-unveils-first-prototype-of-xo-2-0/)
If there ever was a disturbing "I see what you did there"-look, the guy in the top-right has it.
Interesting, seems like old technology and older designs are getting a do-over, I like the idea.
I do love how Apple II computers are being re-vamped with newer technologies..
somehow I just see an Eee motherboard sitting in a PSOne casing that can be connected to the TV as well.. sounds like a fun hobby project for me to try..
Cheers,
Nick
P.S. : Its been awhile since old devices have been revitalized with new uses.
As for old designs getting a do-over, Briel Computers have been making replica Apple 'I's for a while now...
http://www.brielcomputers.com/wik/index.php?title=Replica_1
I think it will be great if 11 and 12 year old kids can get their hands on a super-cheap computer that allows them to quickly learn enough code to put some coloured shapes on the TV screen and move them about.
Modern alternatives (e.g. a secondhand PC with Linux or Windows) just put too much overly complex crap in the way of creating simple programs
Web Browsing? Not likely in today's Flash heavy media BS.
No, it won't run Youtube.
Agreed. Web devs are getting lazy, sloppy, and resource-wasteful. Bring back the lightweight web.
Facts.
Hey could I get an order of Constructive Comment with my Blogspam? Oh, and a Spell Checker to go!
Co-founder of http://www.fuckingspammer.com/
But can it run Crisis on HIGH?
fail
No, but I'm guessing you run Crysis WHILE high.
oddly enough they all have extremely white teeth
i see what you did there
i don't see what you did there
Armin could that have been anymore of a plug for jon4lakers.com xD
wtf is this useful for
Zork?
WOW
Fantastic idea.
It wont run flash player but im sure Mozilla would be happy to cater a special version of FF for this machine if there was interest.
Kudos to team sex offender.
Apple II Forever!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YcjlhFVTY50
Was that Balmer at 1:41?
I'm all for this. Not only does it directly benefit developing and 3rd-world countries, but the refinement of older technology could easily lead to new breakthroughs that may have been overlooked in the past due to current limitations...
Man I didn't even wear lab glasses for chemistry. The guy in the bottom left wears them for doing computer upgrades.
I don't see what you did there.
Bottom right = guy from CSI Miami.
yeaaah! We wont get fooled again.
I'd buy one
The Apple II is the only Apple product I've truly liked :)
you've obviously never seen the door-stopping potential of an apple /// - Even suitable for apartment doors with the strong door closing mechanisms - never move without one.
(apple /// is also suitable as a boat anchor, trebuchet counter weight, anti-tank obstable. Consult a doctor before lifting, avoid exposing your apple /// to irresitable forces)
Just realized Apple is a gay company.
Look at their rainbow logo back in the days and now their macs are targeted to gay guys.
Almost every gay person i've known uses a MAC.
oh wait wrong article.
Anyways what's up with you all picking on these guys?
Because Engadget commentators are nothing but a bunch of haters...
Your named suggests you aren't so straight yourself.
"Almost every gay person i've known uses a MAC. "
Good god, why that's the most compelling evidence I've ever heard!
I'm not gay nor fond of Macs, but that comment was ignorant on so many different levels.
Wow. Thanks for the generalization, asshole!
"crooked style"? is that some desperate attempt to demonstrate street cred on a tech blog? thanks, crooked fail
apple used the rainbow before rainbows were gay
phanbouy is right you DO fail, if he says you failed you failed
umm, no he fails because he's an unfunny bigot douchebag homophobe failure, kinda like yourself, fake fanboy.
well, this is the thing they should be doing
Intel should make 600 mhz processors, 128mb of ram in computers, and a 40gb HD in a computer for 3rd worlds.
I have a computer with those stats, and it runs xp, and office 07 like a dream.. and if it ran linux it would be better yet...
128MB? I think you're the one who's dreaming. Bump it up to 512MB and you can run XP and a couple apps without too much waiting.
The 600 Mhz CPU is fine, though.
The C-64 is less powerful??
Riiiiight.
I would agree that an unexpanded C64 is more powerful than an unexpanded Apple II. It has a nice sound chip (vs. the 1-bit output on the Apple), more capable graphics (several modes vs. 2 basic modes on the Apple), and 64K memory standard (vs. 48K on the Apple without the expansion card).
But the nice thing about the Apple II was its fast floppy drive. After growing up with the Apple II, I was aghast at how slow the C64 floppy drive system was (in standard form, without speed-up software). It reminded me of when I had to load programs from cassette tape.
The Apple also had 8 slots to add peripheral cards to make up for its shortcomings (with one taken up by the 16K memory card).
Yeah, I didn't mean to make it an Apple vs. Commodore thing, but I worked for an educational software company in the late 80's as an assembly language programmer. So I became VERY familiar with both systems. With both the Apple and C-64 disk drives, it was pretty easy to replace the canned DOS with something more efficient so the load times were pretty much the same. On Apple, I think we usually used Diversi-DOS and for the C-64 I seem to remember some cartridge from Epyx that sped things up a ton.
I loved both computers...the Apple //c was just awesomeness, but the graphics and sound on the C-64 was really fun to work with too...
Anyone else slightly disturbed that the Boston Herald describes this as being a "computer-like device"?
VIVA LOS BEAGLE BROS.
Hell yeah! They made programming on the //e so much better...
Yes, yes I would pay for a 12$ apple ][
I am guessing that it will not come with a display (although an eink display would be mighty cool!)
Guy in the upper right: "I like the tin man".
theres plenty of silicon. i dont know what kind of computers you are using that are made from "cilicon" though
damn you comment system, damn you!
ryan that link doesnt work. :(
I really do appreciate those of you that defend the ridiculous comments here on Engadget, but at the end of the day I think you are all fueling these people into making more ridiculous comments.
Please just stick to the story and comment on that only!
When others make ridiculous comments... Ignore them.
I read these stories everyday, and I get so annoyed by reading a page(s) of off-topic garbage.
MIT == MADE IN TAIWAN!
Will it have a 5.25" drive? I need to finish the game of Ultima IV I started in 1987.
It looks like this entire components will fit into the keyboard; awesome.
It won't play neither Crysis or Doom, but at least it will play PSX games :)
Actually, going a step further and making a single chip Apple //gs with a 16 bit processor in a keyboard would be pretty kick ass. You would need an HDMI out though even if it was only an upscaled 640 x 480. NTSC/PAL are all but dead.
This is really a nes on a chip and a cart with computerish things on it.
I'm sorry but NTSC/PAL are NOT dead!