The Sub-$100 Laptop? 345
Vollernurd writes "The BBC is carrying this article detailing Nick Negroponte's plans to deveop and distribute a sub-$100 notebook computer. It would be very basic and stripped down and be used in developing countries as a way of distributing school books and such. Interesting to see how they will cut costs. Yes, it does run Linux." You can read another slashdot story about this machine when it was discussed on Red Herring awhile ago.
new saying (Score:3, Funny)
Run's Linux? (Score:2, Funny)
Display? (Score:0, Funny)
Like a textbook... (Score:2, Funny)
As in, fall asleep and drool on it?
A laptop keyboard isn't nearly as pillowesque as, say, the cushy, thick pages of a physics book.
Only selling them to governments (Score:5, Funny)
So it will be a day or two's delay until you can grab one off eBay.
p-p-p-powerbook (Score:2, Funny)
developed countries.... (Score:1, Funny)
would this include Florida?
Profit ! (Score:3, Funny)
1. Distribute cheap Linux-based laptops to 2 billion indigent Asians
2. Extort $699 Linux license fee from each user
3. Profit!
Re: Display? (Score:3, Funny)
Sure, picture tube built in. Very portable, only 8 kilograms, and a couple of cubic feet in size. That makes sense.
Re:Run's Linux? (Score:3, Funny)
-b
I don't think they need these in Africa (Score:5, Funny)
Re:Not just developing countries (Score:5, Funny)
Just ask for your cash discount.
You can always find *someone* to sell you a brand new notebook for $150-$200. And, yes, they're making a nice profit ($150-$200).
Lots of your inner cities already have such discount retail programs.
The machines come with Windows pre-installed. Most of them even come with user data pre-installed.
They'll even make same-day delivery (some will even let you order the particular make/model you want).
Ain't capitalism grand. [tt]
movie tickets (Score:1, Funny)
Re:Not just developing countries (Score:5, Funny)
The Sub-$100 notebook (Score:3, Funny)
Dateline 2006, after sub-$100 laptops deployed (Score:4, Funny)
Re:Display? (Score:2, Funny)
Re:Like a textbook... (Score:2, Funny)
On the other hand, there's the electrocution hazard. I suppose you could call it the "alarm clock feature."
What about my $100 laptop story? (Score:2, Funny)
Re:Dateline 2006, after sub-$100 laptops deployed (Score:4, Funny)
"United Nations officials report a mysterious 50,000 percent increase in Ethiopian pr0n online...
The great thing about Ethiopian Pt0n is that it compresses realy well.
(ducks)
Re:Error in TFA? (Score:3, Funny)
Reading text is not intensive at all. If it uses flash ram or battery backed up ram it will be many times faster than a hard drive.
I hope they put a nic on it. For a developing country it could really be a replacement for the phone. Heck it would almost make sense to go straight for VoIP and broadband from the start with these and skip phone lines. Small villages would only need one strand of fiber for all it's needs. If you are going to run copper anyway you might as run fiber. It would probably be cheaper. 802.11b with old primestar dishes or a locally made dish could be cheap microwave links. For where running lines is too expensive.
Each school could have a server for mass storage. It could really work well. If they can get the display cost down. That is what I see as the big question mark.
Re:Not just developing countries (Score:2, Funny)