OLPC shakeup: dual-screen XO-2 out, ARM-based XO 1.75 in
By Donald Melanson 
posted November 3rd 2009 12:46PM
posted November 3rd 2009 12:46PM
OLPC's plans for a dual-screen XO-2 laptop / tablet always seemed a little... ambitious, and it looks like even Nicholas Negroponte himself has now realized that it may be more than the organization is able to pull off at the moment. That word comes from a recent interview with Xconomy, where Negroponte confirms that OLPC has indeed scrapped plans for the dual-screen XO-2, and says it will instead focus on a "model 1.75" that has a design similar to the current OPLC XO but gets a boost from a faster ARM processor. Negroponte isn't completely giving up on the idea of a revamped OLPC, however, and says that model 3.0 will have a "totally different industrial design, more like a sheet of paper." That model apparently also includes "aspirational aspects" like an unbreakable, waterproof enclosure that's just a quarter inch thick, a full color, reflective and transmissive display with no bezel, 1W of power consumption, and (here's the real kicker) a $75 price tag by 2012.
These features fail to make it to top end notebooks, my logic tells me they wont be hitting XOs first.
Having said that I would love to be proven wrong.
The XO has a few features that other notebooks/netbooks lack, such as its dual-mode screen and mesh Wi-Fi. The screen in particular, is something I wish I could get on a normal netbook.
And speaking of netbooks, you arguably have OLPC to thank for that entire trend. Intel and Asus conspiring to sink the OLPC project lead to the wide availability of small, cheap laptops.
@FuturePastNow "And speaking of netbooks, you arguably have OLPC to thank for that entire trend. Intel and Asus conspiring to sink the OLPC project lead to the wide availability of small, cheap laptops."
Precisely, and it clearly illustrates what the XO folks mean when they say they don't have to be 100% successful to have a huge influence.
Wow, that's affordable! The kids will love this.
screw the kids. i want one!
Well, I think the whole OLPC idea is failed to begin with, but an ebook approach, with some computer-like functionality, would make more sense.
"911...yeah he's back.......through the window this time.."
Give up nub, if you have to advertise in the comments sections of an Electronics blog for non-electronics then...
You have officially failed in life %110
Make it run on zero point energy and I'm sold!
If $75 can get you that much in the future I am dying to see what $1,000 will buy!
Yes, the OLPC appraoach has mostly failed but mainly due to the "business model" not because of the hardware (although, I have to admit, my XO-1 is not the fastest netbook I have ever seen)
OLPC's main failure was to not make the XO-1 widely available. A smaller failure factor was the Sugar OS. They should have gone with a simple Linux desktop equipped with educational software.
It's just not as good a machine as the eee701 I bought at about the same time: the processor is slower, it won't connect to WPA-protected wifi, the battery already is useless, the keys are AWFUL, the trackpad cuts out intermittently, the screen is not that good, the included software's dull... mmm, what've I missed?
I loved the concept, it's why I went for the buy2give1; also, was hoping it'd be a more updated version of my beloved eMate. It's not. Very sad, all around.
Because they have such a great track record with pricing and release dates. People stopped caring about this company when they jumped into bed with Microsoft and ruined any good will people had for them.
" People stopped caring about this company when they jumped into bed with Microsoft and ruined any good will people had for them."
..
This isn't a company trying to sell whiny nerds computers, this is a company trying to equip children around the world who would otherwise be unable to afford a computer. This is a company whose products aren't used to turn into hackintoshes, or benchmarked with superpi. Their products are used to teach children around the world. In villages without electricity, the OLPC is the only light in the house, and Children are using it to learn-- and sometimes to teach-- their parents how to read.
If that isn't a company worth caring about, I don't know what is.
While I'm neutral to microsoft, you can say what you want about the company- but their operating system is so widely used and asked for, it makes sense to give the customers what they want, and its hard to argue with the fact that options are good when any simple Linux interface would have been better than Sugar, ANY.
Still very interested to see what this company will offer in the future. Ask every public school student in Uruguay, or a million kids across the world, OLPC is a special idea.
I live in a third world country and im still think that the OLPC was a completely failure if not a scram.
-They doubled the initial price.
-They cut by half the promised features.
-They reducer the quality of the products (hardware and software).
-And, It was delayed over two years.
And when it was finally released then, third world countries jumped for a more affordable and less experimental approach :cheap pc.
Negroponte acted as a lousy car dealer, promising everything and giving nothing but a pile of trash.
I agree, they should have stayed the hell away from microsoft. Open-source is really the only way to go in developing and third-world countries.
I agree, as does the fedora sugar devs.
i guess the man can dream......
About that blurry photo...
Is this supposed to convince us that it's the real deal, or is it just intended as a mock-up? That guy's finger is casting a pretty dark shadow on the "LCD". Right where his finger is making contact, it's completely black. Now, we know an LCD wouldn't register that well without a backlight, and we know it's not color ePaper because, well, it isn't, soooooooo... fake?
Could be his reflection on glass, but I'm not putting money on it.
How is this thing going to run Windows XP with an ARM processor?
I don't think it ever ran XP. Officially.
I don't think it ever ran.
You might make fun of the product but I'll say this about Negroponte, he will be remembered as making a positive difference. We need more people, in the IT industry especially, like him.
1.75 in..ches?
Ah, so the new one is only barely better and I should wait until 2012 for the awesome? thanks for the tip Nick.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Osborne_effect
I wish my last name was "Negroponte"...
Well, I want one now not in 2012 cos I think world might end in 2012.