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Hardware

The Hundred-Buck PC 562

Posted by michael from the buy-two-get-one-free dept.
skreuzer writes "MIT Media Lab founder Nicholas Negroponte has a plan to build a $100 PC for the developing world, which is supposedly going to have a 14-inch color screen and run on Linux, has the backing of AMD, Google, Motorola, Samsung, and News Corp. Apparently they're all getting mixed up in a joint-venture to produce the PC, which will be sold directly to governments only."
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The Hundred-Buck PC More

The Hundred-Buck PC

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  • But does it (Score:4, Funny)

    by Anonymous Coward on Sunday January 30, 2005 @08:15PM (#11524021)
    fit in a Mac Mini?

    • Re:But does it (Score:5, Insightful)

      by _ph1ux_ ( 216706 ) on Monday January 31, 2005 @12:16AM (#11525609)
      You know, this may sound like a funny statement, but it brings up a really good question about existing hardware.

      For example - how many people here have old hardware that would still work fine, but they personally dont have any use for it.

      I worked for intel, I have had systems of every single processor model since the inception of the pentium.

      All of my models were engineering samples, but in many cases I have had up to 20 machines of a particular model.

      How many of you have a P3 800? or a p2 450?

      I have had tons, built and sold and built and donated plenty of machines...

      Why not try to build a "100 Dollar Box" *not* on NEW hardware, (which will cause even more lead and mercury pollution in areas where they may be deployed) - but to establish a standard build, a set of known components that are beyond commodity now, and then build and ship these boxes to the areas where you are looking to add value.

      If they sought to get all processors/motherboards/video cards within a particular spec from everyone that has purchased them in the past, and establish a donation tracking process for future hardware - I think it would do more good - for the people receiving and the environment as well.

      I would be happy to purchase something and then check a "Donors" box at time of receipt which will allow me to easily agree to donate that particular peice of equipment when I am done using it personally...

      • Re:But does it (Score:3, Interesting)

        by Almost-Retired ( 637760 )
        Personally, I think thats a hell of a great idea.

        Like you, and being both a typical geek (even at my age of 70) I have a collection of older hardware that I'm sure someone, somewhere, could put to productive use.

        Maybe it wouldn't keep them at my current 99.32% in the seti rankings, or even run windows cause lots of my stuff isn't your basic wintel box. But it was productive, and usefull in its time, not to mention very educational. But its sitting in the basement in boxes, high and dry, along with lots

      • Re:But does it (Score:3, Insightful)

        by RogerWilco ( 99615 )
        I've bought a PII-350/92Mb/3.5Gb/CDx24 for 25 euro's, and use it as a small linux server.
        The stuff I have still lying around doesn't seem to interest anyone anymore, like a P-75, 486DX-33, 486DX4-100, 286-20, 386-40. These all work, but I only used the 486DX4-100 last year, the others haven't seen use in years, and nobody wants them anymore.

        The problem with the 200-800 Mhz range stuff that is still in use is support if something breaks. The owners tend not to be the most technologically savvy. A reinstall

      • Re:But does it (Score:4, Interesting)

        by Hognoxious ( 631665 ) on Monday January 31, 2005 @07:07AM (#11527015) Homepage Journal
        Why not try to build a "100 Dollar Box" *not* on NEW hardware, (which will cause even more lead and mercury pollution in areas where they may be deployed) - but to establish a standard build, a set of known components
        Problem is you wouldn't get a standard build. If it's stuff that's fit for the bit-box, the bargain-bin or whatever you call it then it's pot luck what you'll get.

        Plus, it might be better for older hardware (which IIRC contains more nasties) to be disposed of in countries where there'll at least be an effort to remove the toxic parts, than for them to be (eventualy) chucked in a ditch somewhere.

  • The REAL question is.... (Score:5, Funny)

    by alan_dershowitz ( 586542 ) on Sunday January 30, 2005 @08:15PM (#11524022)
    How many mouse buttons does it have, dammit?

  • I'd be happy to pay that without a display (Score:5, Interesting)

    by drinkypoo ( 153816 ) <drink@hyperlogos.org> on Sunday January 30, 2005 @08:16PM (#11524029) Homepage Journal
    as long as it was low power, and had a decent video output of some sort, even if it was just s-video. sounds like it would be ideal for a carputer. presumably any computers for the developing world will be low power, because of the problems with actually getting electricity... you want to be able to run it off a exercise bike or what have you.
    • I agree.

      For that matter, power is a big concern no matter where. If you notice, except for portable devices, we seldom worry about the power usage of most of our devices.

      Besides, developing countries pay a lot more (relatively) per unit of power than developed countries, so it would definitely be something to think about.

      And I wonder how LCD compares with CRT to power. Favourably, I'd guess.
    • I believe the folk at solar PC deal in hardware that can address the power issue.

      http://www.solarpc.com
    • presumably any computers for the developing world will be low power, because of the problems with actually getting electricity...
      Low power is good idea, but no matter how low the power requirements are of a system, it can't function when the power grid is offline! An ideal developing world system would include its own generator, probably spring-driven.

    • Re:Jokes Aside (Score:5, Informative)

      by Anonymous Coward on Sunday January 30, 2005 @10:44PM (#11525095)
      Having been born in a developing country or LDC in short, both governments and their people need computers and networking - badly. Not just ''toy'' PCs for ''games'', considering that massive government work is still executed in the ancient ''pen and paper style'' and actual document filing is so antiquated it involves actual file and cabinet and vaults for security. A building fire and..........

      There is a huge need to digitize government record keeping which would cut on ''labor'' costs for pushing paper thus reducing government budget spending on ridiculous tasks not to mention all the other benefits. FYI /.ers, Citizens in remote locations sometimes wait weeks if not months to ''get a document verified'' ;a birth certificate for example which if not faxed to some head office where computerized records are kept has to be sent by inter office mail and a response takes a similar channel and duration to get back.

      There is a saying in my village that he who does not travel thinks his mother cooks best. This MIT thing is a top-down approach to address a conceived problem for which the designer and planners have little touch with. I wonder how many of those involved have visited a truely LDC country. It will only result in cheap and unworthy PC toys dumped all over LDCs without addresssing real needs. On one end are people looking at profits and at the other are ''carputers'' as the parent article puts it.

      So for you slashdotters who think ''games and code'' when thinking of PC specs, let me point that in developing countries, its not a disaster waiting to happen but one in progress and there are no jokes here.

      Governments in Developing countries need massive computing power to automate their operations and processes, they need huge networking to bring the systems together, training to run the systems and money to do it, before their citizens can surf the net. Think of that next time you surf for pr0n.

      • Financing Jokes Aside (Score:5, Interesting)

        by zogger ( 617870 ) on Monday January 31, 2005 @12:10AM (#11525576) Homepage Journal
        ..and this is the same observations and therefore advice I had for the lack of any credible warning system for the Tsunami, despite the fact it hit asia, the home of cheap labor, and even cheaper electronics. Most of these "developing nations" seem to have no problem supporting a military/industrial/politician/ generic fatcat class with all the latest expensive toys. One less jet fighter plane per nation would pay for a lot of simple basic computers and dedicated tsunami and earthquake warning radios, probably more than one per poor village. A few less tanks pays for some decent electrical generational facilities of the small scale and distributed nature. One less high muckety muck mercedes limo buys a lot of DC solar panels and simple DC charge controllers. One less governmental fatcat palace = a few radio station/cell/net setups. And so on and so forth.

        It's not so much a technological problem or even an economic problem, it's a political problem, and the problem is that the global *two* class society is being pushed (from the top down obviously, from the folks with the guns and money and power) instead of the global *three* class heavy on the middle society like it should be.

    • Re:I'd be happy to pay that without a display (Score:4, Funny)

      by deft ( 253558 ) on Sunday January 30, 2005 @11:13PM (#11525274) Homepage
      99% of slashdot wants to know what this "exercise bicycle" you speak of is.

  • $100 is still a lot. (Score:5, Interesting)

    by Anonymous Coward on Sunday January 30, 2005 @08:16PM (#11524033)
    I hate to say this, but with the exchange rates, $100 is well beyond an average third-world citizen's one year salary.
    • "The mothers are going to walk right up to that computer and say, 'My children are dying, what can you do?' They're not going to sit there and like, browse eBay."

      But, to reaffirm what others have said in this thread, this machine is being designed to be sold to governments, not to families.

      • Re:As Bill Gates said (Score:5, Insightful)

        by flyingsquid ( 813711 ) on Sunday January 30, 2005 @08:46PM (#11524289)
        "The mothers are going to walk right up to that computer and say, 'My children are dying, what can you do?' They're not going to sit there and like, browse eBay."

        Sounds about right. Speaking as someone who travelled through Madagascar for three months, all I can say is that you simply cannot understand it until you have been there and been there long enough to completely blow your prejudices, preconceptions and most of your hope out of the water.

        Development needs to start with the basics. They don't need computers and they don't need college. They need roads, they need medical care, they need clean drinking water, they need immunizations, they need family planning, they need assistance with sustainable farming techniques and they need primary education. I'll concede that computers can be part of the overall strategy but they'd be pretty low on my list of priorities. And it's not going to be any use at all until you've got (a) power, (b) literacy, and (c) a phone line, and many places I saw lacked some or all of those things.

        • Re:As Bill Gates said (Score:5, Informative)

          by YankeeInExile ( 577704 ) * on Sunday January 30, 2005 @09:07PM (#11524476) Homepage Journal

          Speaking as someone who was lectured in Nigeria on technology issues, all I can say is you are not seeing the big picture.

          Every one of your laundry list of things that people need, are either predicated on, or at the very least made much more efficient by: The efficient and timely flow of information. In other words, IT.

          • That's a good idea (Score:3, Insightful)

            by dusanv ( 256645 )
            All they need is more computers. As if I didn't get enough 419-type scam e-mails.


          • Every one of your laundry list of things that people need, are either predicated on, or at the very least made much more efficient by: The efficient and timely flow of information. In other words, IT.

            Actually when you get right down to it, you don't need computers to manage anything. Need clean water? Simply divert the river/dig a well(s)/or create an aquaduct if you need water over a large area. Vaccinations? Setup a few shops in the most populated areas and work your way out, quit trying to save everyone

            • They certainly don't need education when 99% of their futures and full-time jobs will be along the lines of 'farmer'.

              And that is possibly the most biased, arrogant, ego-centric thing I have ever heard out of slashdot.

              Something along the lines of "teach a man to fish" - they dont need computers, but they do need education.

              (Grew up in an LDC - 12 years - for the record.)

        • Re:As Bill Gates said (Score:5, Insightful)

          by putaro ( 235078 ) on Sunday January 30, 2005 @11:16PM (#11525303) Journal
          They don't need computers and they don't need college.

          I might agree that they don't need computers, but they don't need college?

          They need roads,

          Who's going to plan the roads? Foreigners?

          they need medical care,

          Who's going to provide the medical care? Foreigners?

          they need clean drinking water,

          Who's going to plan the drinking water systems and make sure that the water is really clean?

          they need immunizations,

          Where are the vaccines going to come from?

          they need family planning,

          Who's going to set this up? Where will medicines and prophylatics come from?

          they need assistance with sustainable farming techniques

          Who's going to teach these?

          they need primary education.

          Who will be the teachers?

          You seem to advocate that the 1st world should treat these countries like dependents and poor benighted savages who need saving. They will be best off if they save themselves and a large part of that will be handled by having people educated at all levels of the spectrum, not just primary education. Having vast numbers of foreign aid workers along with vast amounts of foreign aid just means that they will be dependent in the future. And someday, politics or fashion will cause the aid and aid workers to disappear and then where will they be?

      • Re:As Bill Gates said (Score:5, Informative)

        by DaoudaW ( 533025 ) on Sunday January 30, 2005 @10:31PM (#11525029)
        "The mothers are going to walk right up to that computer and say, 'My children are dying, what can you do?' They're not going to sit there and like, browse eBay."

        Why do you impose what you do on a computer to a third world mother?
        Of course she's not going to browse eBay! But a worker at her local clinic may well discover the proper treatment to treat the childs diarrhea, a farmers cooperative may find the agricultural practices necessary to avoid a prevalent crop disease, etc.

        I'm just a farm kid from the American midwest, but I lived 3 years in Africa and 4 years in South Asia and I can tell you from personal experience that lack of access to timely information is a major factor in attempts at development in the third world.

        You may think of your computer as mainly recreational or as a convenience, but there are places in the world where access to the internet is a matter of life and death.

    • Re:$100 is still a lot. (Score:5, Insightful)

      by hostyle ( 773991 ) on Sunday January 30, 2005 @08:34PM (#11524185)

      $100 is well beyond an average third-world citizen's one year salary

      I think you are missing the point entirely. Its not meant to be a personal computer for third-world / developing countries, but more as a public computer for the town / village centre. Give them a phone line for internet and decent educational software alongside a decent encyclopdia and its a boon to people for miles around.

    • All of the 'third world countries' I've been to still had plenty of people with computers as well as internet cafes. I'm sure none of the computers there cost less than $100 or anywhere close.

      So of course this will help
    • You and the moderators who modded you up should re-read the article.

      No, you don't even need to read the linked article, the Slashdot news item would suffice.
    • you're saying that an average third world citizen's salary is less than $8 a month? Get real.

      Either you're an ignorant or are trying to spread FUD. Either way, shut up.
    • The average third-world citizen's salary is beyond $750 a year. You're nothing but a troll. http://www.globalissues.org/TradeRelated/Facts.asp Please someone mod parent down.
  • If this thing is only going to be sold to the government, you can bet it will get to a fraction of its intendend recepient and costs ten times as much. The reason the developing world is still developing is because of the government for god's sake. Who ever heard of a government, especially of a developing country, that wasn't up to its eyeballs in corruption and graft? The only people who stand to benefit from this are government cronies and the black market.

  • Good goal? (Score:2, Insightful)

    by Castaa ( 458419 ) *
    This will go over big with the nearly 3 billion people (or about half the world's population) living on less than $2 a day. [globalissues.org]

    I'm not putting down an honest effort here. I'm just suggesting there might be more important goals than trying to get everyone in the world a PC right now.
    • Perhaps with easy access to information, they needn't be making $2/day.

      How do you propose to get their incomes up? They're going to magically start building factories and selling something?

      Education and access to information are vital if you're going to be anything but a subsistance beggar.

    • Re:Good goal? (Score:5, Insightful)

      by fm6 ( 162816 ) on Sunday January 30, 2005 @08:27PM (#11524131) Homepage Journal
      Sure, there are billions who can't afford to buy one of these. But somebody in their village or neighborhood will get a micro-loan [gdrc.org] and pay it back by selling access to their neighbors. This is already happening with other technology [he.net].
    • 2*365= 730$

      100/730$ = 13.7% of annual income.

      As others have noted, you can combine village or family incomes, also a loan system can be set up, thus it could result in costs of less than 1% of annual family income per person.

      To me the point of concern/interest is infrastructure and costs for powering it.

      2$ isn't really meaningful except for goods that are bought on the international market. What is relevant is 'Purchasing Power Parity' - how much goods and services the two dollars will buy on the local

    • Re:Good goal? (Score:5, Insightful)

      by Quixote ( 154172 ) on Sunday January 30, 2005 @09:17PM (#11524534) Homepage Journal
      I'm just suggesting there might be more important goals

      Sigh.. there's always someone just ready to take a piss in the cereal.

      So, please enlighten us. What are these goals? And how do you propose to solve them? Once you have answered these two questions, answer the third: when are you going to start working on these solutions?

      It is very easy to criticize someone else for making an effort. It is very, very hard to get your ass out of your parents' basement and actually do something about it.

      I'm sorry if I sound so harsh, but this attitude just bothers me. You got a better idea, Bub? Then do it. Until then, STFU.

      I applaud everyone who's doing anything to make the world a better place. This, IMHO, will make the world a "better" place (note, I did not say "the best place"). If nothing else, at least they tried (which is more than can be said of 99% of this world's population, and this readership).

  • A laudable project (Score:5, Interesting)

    by btempleton ( 149110 ) on Sunday January 30, 2005 @08:22PM (#11524085) Homepage
    But would it not be even better to work a way to use our vast supply of old computers, many of which are being thrown out and face a recycling problem?

    Take all the best linux hardware detection and auto-configuration software from the various distros -- kudzu and the like -- and make an installer that takes an old PC, and first tells you if the hardware in it can run linux decently, and if so, automatically installs it, otherwise redirects the PC to be recycled or sold for low power windows.

    People would happily donate these PCs, possibly even running the linuxizing CD themselves, since perhaps they don't qualify for the donation tax deduction of the PC doesn't pass the test on the CD.

    Yes, these machines might not be as fast as the bottom end AMD chip (Sempron 2000?) that will go into them, but not only are they semi-free, they solve a recycling problem at the same time.
    • If you think even developing countries have a use for ancient hardware, you are wrong. It's not 1996, and 1996 computers are not useful in today's world. Why the hell would you want an ancient computer that can barely run X11? Normal, graphical Linux doesn't run that well on anything less than 500MHz / 128M of ram.
      • Look ... this is a ratio of nothing to something. You don't need to run the latest, greatest, hot-off-the-shelf graphical environment to have a useful computer system (Microsoft's claims to the contrary notwithstanding.) Fact is, an old computer with a command-line, text-based display would be very useful in many developing countries. Hell, they were certainly useful here ten or twenty years ago. Still are, actually. What is needed is communication, mostly, and providing a small farming village somewhere w

    • Re:A laudable project (Score:3, Interesting)

      by fm6 ( 162816 )
      A lot of computer recycling centers already do this. But mostly this doesn't really work, unless you give the computer to somebody who has the knowhow and resources to maintain old systems themselves. That leaves out people in some remote Indian village who could benefit from Internet access (weather reports, direct access to crop markets, selling native crafts) but wouldn't know what to do with an old, flaky 386 box. Better to give them a system designed from the ground up for their environement, with stan

    • Re:A laudable project (Score:5, Informative)

      by twilight30 ( 84644 ) on Sunday January 30, 2005 @08:53PM (#11524353) Homepage
      I was thinking exactly the same thing, and then I realised what the problem would be - standardisation. Too many machines, too many different combinations of hardware to troubleshoot effectively. And who would do that job? I suppose a country could get their high school geeks on the cheap to do some of the maintenance. However, I think this is one of the reasons why the recycling programmes already in place haven't been successful on an international basis -- in terms of the number of PCs that get turned into landfill, as opposed to the number that do get shipped abroad, the ratio must be ridiculously bad.

      That being said, I wholeheartedly agree with you and think it should be done regardless. I guess in principle I object to just simply throwing things out and buying new stuff when older equipment could, with a bit of work, be perfectly serviceable. (I'm typing this on a crappy old 1998-vintage 633mhz Celery II as I'm broke too right now! But I do think it's fine for what I need at the moment)
    • The cost of shipping all this old, heavy gear might make the whole idea unrealistic.

  • A plan and a profit, put to good use... (Score:5, Interesting)

    by D4C5CE ( 578304 ) on Sunday January 30, 2005 @08:23PM (#11524092)
    Sell it for $150-200 e.g. in the US & Europe as well (thus even further increasing the economies of scale), and use the extra proceeds to cross-subsidize massive, direct sales to the people in even higher numbers and well below $100 in the developing countries. Hopefully a sufficiently large part of the value chain will also take place in these countries, so as not to overwhelm local manufacturers etc. there...

  • Idea of the VIC-20 Lives! (Score:5, Funny)

    by reporter ( 666905 ) on Sunday January 30, 2005 @08:23PM (#11524096) Homepage
    This idea of setting an arbitrarily low price, $100 in this case, for a personal computer (PC) and building the most features into the PC is simply a rehash of the idea behind the VIC-20. About 20 years ago, the management of now defunct Commodore predetermined the price of the new home computer to be $200 because management felt that such a low price point would be attractive for the intended market. Then, Commodore engineers added as many features as they could into the new computer. Commodore marketing called it the "VIC-20", and William Shatner (ugh!) served as the spokesman in the print (and TV?) advertisements.

    Maybe, MIT should call the new computer the "VIC-10" and ask Shatner if he wants to do some ads for it. I wonder how the audience in Vietnam would feel if they see William Shatner being dubbed to speak Vietnamese?

  • ...and this is like, what...the fourth time this particular business model has been run up the flag pole?

    I worked at one of the principals 4 years ago when this 'idea' came through originally, and it didn't fly then, either.
  • Wouldn't it be more practical to introduce non- PC technologies?

  • Great idea, (Score:5, Insightful)

    by mnmn ( 145599 ) on Sunday January 30, 2005 @08:28PM (#11524133) Homepage
    Ideally this should be an ARM based linux running machine, with maybe monochrome LCD with it, and minimum mechanical parts, meaning running off flash rather than harddrives.

    It should have a power cable, not requiring a power adapter since that adds to the costs... a power-down IC with a power regulator IC should do the trick along with a fat capacitor. A modem or ethernet will certainly be a requirement, and will add to the costs. I wonder if in mass production 802.11b will be cheaper.

    The GUI itself should be minimalistic, and I dont know if adding sound to it will be important. Remember this should be profitable at $99.

    ARM SoC= $10
    DRAM at 128MB = $20
    flash at 128MB = $30
    LCD = $30
    everything else = $10

    Last time I was checking the prices for such a computer, the LCD was the most expensive part, even in monochrome at 640x480. If they intend to bring that down to 320x200, the LCD cost wont drop significantly unless the size is also reduced. They could also reduce the flash, but thats removing alot, even though the kernel will be 2MB, glibc and busybox for a non-MMU machine will be 10mb. X, browsers etc will only take it to a maximum of 32MB, unless the browser has flash, real, quicktime etc. in which case its 64mb. Still having 128mb is reasonable for flash.

    RAM is also very critical in running the system. 128mb is plenty of space but they can also live with 64mb. anything below that is choking the machine.

    So with 64mb ram and 64mb flash, and 320x200 LCD, its still approaching $99 in BOM alone, which means the volume of production must be very high to make profits at $99...

    To make it x86, add $30 extra, add more voltage, but that gives us much more applications, and the computer will sell in much greater numbers everywhere, and you dont have to lose money on hardware like the XBox.

  • Computers are nice. Computers are fun... (Score:3, Interesting)

    by mindlessreflex ( 683371 ) on Sunday January 30, 2005 @08:31PM (#11524155)
    Hey, this is the slashdot crowd. If and when this product comes out, we'll have it disected and running as a media box in a few minutes. As for the intended purpose of it providing low cost computing power to the masses, they are missing the entire point. Aside from the fact that the poorest areas of the world lacking any type of consistant electricity, let alone bandwidth, what use is a computer when you are hungry? Sure, the ubergeeks out there consider bandwidth more of a necessity than hygiene (and it freaking show sometimes), but we need to remember it is still a luxury to people working on other issues, such as nutrition and shelter.
    • That's true, but would you want Nicholas Negroponte really determining how the world gets its vital necessities?

      All kidding aside, though, while the point you make is a good one, one problem with this line of thinking is that it 'forces' or leads people to believe that they shouldn't do anything until the basics and only the basics are handled adequately for all.

      Given the level of economic underdevelopment in the countries targeted by this campaign, I'd suggest just letting it go ('let anyone try to impro

  • This idea is getting popular (Score:4, Interesting)

    by Nooface ( 526234 ) on Sunday January 30, 2005 @08:34PM (#11524187) Homepage
    This effort joing some other projects targeting cheap PCs at users in developing countries. For example, the PCtvt [cmu.edu] was recently proposed by Raj Reddy [post-gazette.com] at CMU (an academic rivalry?).

    But both efforts are predated by the Simputer [simputer.org], a low cost device that was designed to be shared by Indian villagers. Each user stores their data on a Smart Card, which is plugged into a single Simputer as it is shared by various members of the community.
  • Governments in many cases are the problem in developing countries. Witness the UN or much of the Arab World.

    I fail to see how limiting this project to governments is going to help in many cases.

  • Biggest Market for $100 PC? Developed World (Score:5, Interesting)

    by reporter ( 666905 ) on Sunday January 30, 2005 @08:37PM (#11524214) Homepage
    Actually, the biggest market for the $100 personal computer (PC) might actually be the developed world. Given that most customers use PCs almost exclusively for word processing, e-mail, and web surfing, a $100 PC with a low-cost, less-powerful processor like a Pentium II would meet the needs of most customers. Such a PC would sell like hotcakes.

    Today's, over-powered (not just in terms of wattage) PCs are overkill for the typical consumer. The bottleneck in downloading pornography is not the rendering done by the processor; the bottleneck is the network. Depending on the size of the pornographic file, 384K DSL line is slow; a 56K line is a pain in the you know where.

    The cynical side of me says that Dell, Samsung, and the other major PC makers will keep the $100 PC out of the developed markets like the USA in order to maintain the $600 price point that they are currently stealing from the consumers.

    • Re:Biggest Market for $100 PC? Developed World (Score:5, Insightful)

      by mcrbids ( 148650 ) on Sunday January 30, 2005 @09:09PM (#11524485) Journal
      Given that most customers use PCs almost exclusively for word processing, e-mail, and web surfing,

      But, that's not what most people use their computers for! Read up on the The 80/20 Myth [joelonsoftware.com] to get some idea what I mean.

      True, 80% of computer use is what you specify - but what about the other 20%?

      It's ALL OVER THE PLACE. CAD/CAM. Web design. Graphic arts. Video games. Taxes and book-keeping. Software engineering. Encoding MP3s. Playing DVDs, MP3s, DivX, MPG content. Building quilt patterns. Serving database content.

      Just because you can satisfy 80% of the uses of a computer doesn't mean that you can satisfy 80% of the users out there with 80% of the applications. If they were to be sold, your 80% computers would leave 100% of its users 20% dis-satisfied.
  • The price is 100$ for a PC that won't be produced for another 18 months.

    So we are talking quite a bit of lead time, and for completely unknown specs.

    Without knowing the hardware it is completely unknowable whether that will be a good value especiallly that far in the future.

    LetterRip

  • x86 or MIPS (Score:3, Interesting)

    by kinema ( 630983 ) on Sunday January 30, 2005 @08:46PM (#11524292)
    I wonder if they will choose to go with the more obvious x86 based Geode [amd.com] or the very deserving MIPS solution, the Alchemy [amd.com]. Personally I would really love to see the Alchemy used.

  • This is really old news (Score:3, Funny)

    by SlashCrunchPop ( 699733 ) on Sunday January 30, 2005 @08:51PM (#11524341)

    I think this must be really old news because those PCs seem to already be on their way to 3rd world countries, at least judging by the following email I got today:

    Dear Sir,

    ASSISTANCE REQUIRED FOR ACQUISITION OF PCS

    I write to inform you of my desire to acquire PCs
    in your country on behalf of the Director of
    Contracts and Finance Allocations of the Federal
    Ministry of Education in Nigeria under the Special
    Provisions US$100 PC Act #2317USNG-1A5.

    Considering his very strategic and influential
    position, he would want the transaction to be as
    strictly confidential as possible. He further
    wants his identity to remain undisclosed at least
    for now, until the completion of the transaction.
    Hence our desire to have an overseas agent.

    I have therefore been directed to inquire if you
    would agree to act as our overseas agent in order
    to actualize this transaction.

    The deal, in brief, is that the funds with which
    we intend to carry out our proposed purchases in
    your country is presently in a coded account at
    the Nigerian Apex Bank (i.e. the Central Bank of
    Nigeria) and we need your assistance to transfer
    the funds to your country in a convenient bank
    account that will be provided by you before we can
    put the funds into use in your country. For this,
    you shall be considered to have executed a
    contract for the Federal Ministry of Education in
    Nigeria for which payment should be effected to
    you by the Ministry, the contract sum of which
    shall run into US$26.4 Million, of which your
    share shall be US$25,000 if you agree to be our
    overseas agent. We hope you understand this is a
    nonprofit matter under the Special Provisions
    Contract Act which limits payments to agents to
    US$25,000.

    As soon as payment is effected, and the amount
    mentioned above is successfully transferred into
    your account, we intend to use our own share in
    acquiring PCs. For this too you shall also serve
    as our agent.

    In the light of this, I would like you to forward
    to me the following information:

    1. Your company name and address if any
    2. Your personal fax number
    3. Your personal telephone number for easy
    communication.

    You are requested to communicate your acceptance
    of this proposal through my above stated email
    address after which we shall discuss in details
    the modalities for seeing this transaction
    through.

    Your quick response will be highly appreciated.
    Thank you in anticipation of your cooperation.

    Yours faithfully,
    BIBI LUCKY

    You know what that means, don't you? That's right, they're buying 264,000 PCs!

  • Picture of the new device (Score:5, Funny)

    by Sophrosyne ( 630428 ) on Sunday January 30, 2005 @08:55PM (#11524382) Homepage
    Here is a great leaked picture of the new sub 100$ computer:
    Here [cpan.org]

  • ./ers aren't always the brightest bulbs (Score:5, Insightful)

    by torinth ( 216077 ) on Sunday January 30, 2005 @08:56PM (#11524390) Homepage
    Several of the highest moderated comments are complaining about aspects of this project.

    "$100 is more than a years salary for many third-worlders!"
    "Selling to the governments only? But developing governments are especially corrupt!"
    "Hmm... I'd like on of these for my car."

    Okay. Well, here's the thing folks. This project isn't meant to be a personal computer to be installed in the hut of some starving family. This computer is something that developing governments can choose to buy cheaply and install in public locations or sell to third-party providers. Primary schools, libraries, vocational training centers--those kinds of things. Currently, many of these places need a completely out-of-reach IT budget of thousands of dollars (or else a patchwork of random donated PCs) to get set up at all. This project is a means to reduce that problem. It'll make it more likely that some 15 year old in rural Africa will at least have had access to a computer a couple times.

    So quit complaining and pay attention.

  • MORE MOUSE DETAILS (Score:3, Funny)

    by alan_dershowitz ( 586542 ) on Sunday January 30, 2005 @09:02PM (#11524434)
    I've just learned that to assist those in third world countries by providing them with a familiar pointing interface, the provided mouse will be shaped like an AK-47.

  • Shut up. (Score:5, Insightful)

    by Geoffreyerffoeg ( 729040 ) on Sunday January 30, 2005 @09:08PM (#11524481)
    Everyone's complaining that a $100 PC is not the most important thing for people in third-world countries. Why don't I see you going to Africa and building an industry and a large farm instead of posting on Slashdot?

    These people are doing some good: they're creating a computer priced so low that local governments can afford to buy even large numbers without much of a decision. And they're also pushing the limit of a price of a full-featured computer. If they keep working at it, they'll help to modernize the developing countries by introducing the people to computers, and they'll push the price even lower.

    Meanwhile, you're posting on Slashdot (as am I, I admit, but I didn't make any pretention of wanting good for third-world denizens). You can't very well argue that they're doing something to harm the third world, and they're considerably helping parts of it, so why're you complaining?

    Oh, and I've seen the $2/day figure quoted around here. It's reasonable to say that a month's wages in America can buy a high-quality computer. A month's wages at $2/day is about $60. Remember that this is the first wave of cheap computers for developing nations. They're already close to the same price point with respect to purchasing power, and they'll get to it very quickly.

  • Why not recycle instead? (Score:3, Insightful)

    by Saeed al-Sahaf ( 665390 ) on Sunday January 30, 2005 @09:16PM (#11524528) Homepage
    With the number of perfectly good P3s and older P4s finding their way to thrift shops, why not spend the $100 on refurbishing machines that are still good but that we rich folks don't want, thus saving the landfill of toxic waste and providing poor people with real machines?

  • Ballmer was right (Score:3, Interesting)

    by Pan T. Hose ( 707794 ) on Sunday January 30, 2005 @09:17PM (#11524538) Homepage Journal
    "MIT Media Lab founder Nicholas Negroponte has a plan to build a $100 PC [...] which is supposedly going to have a 14-inch color screen and run on Linux"

    It turns out that Steve Ballmer was right [slashdot.org]. A $100 PC will indeed reduce Windows piracy, by running Linux. I'm sure Ballmer is very happy about this new project fulfilling his prophecy. This is a very good news for the developing developing developing world.

  • To save a few bucks... (Score:3, Interesting)

    by Stormwatch ( 703920 ) <`moc.liamtoh' `ta' `oarigogirdor'> on Sunday January 30, 2005 @09:23PM (#11524580) Homepage
    Forget the monitor, plug the thing to a TV. Like many computers from the 1980s.

  • Good, but recycle more first.. (Score:5, Interesting)

    by adeyadey ( 678765 ) on Sunday January 30, 2005 @09:57PM (#11524833) Journal
    The other day I passed a rubbish skip at my local college filled to the top with Desktop computer units & VDUs, all identical - dozens of units. When I asked what was wrong with them I was told - nothing! They were just old machines, the college was buying new machines. From what I could gather these were units in the P100-250Mhz range, all usable by someone out there..

    Having said that, ok $100 PCs are good - but again with the environment/pollution pressures, how far do we go? Remember each machine eats 200W+ of power - nice when we are trying to get everyone to cut back..
    • What machine uses 200W of power!? Last I looked at a low-end machine, it was rigging up a UPS for a system with a K6-400, 384MB of ram, a 4GB hard drive, and a 14" color CRT. According to my multimeter, that used 85 watts with the disk spinning. I hardly think that you could make a system that uses more than 100W for $100, especially if you use modern processes. 50W would certainly be a reasonable goal.

  • What the hell is wrong with you people? (Score:3, Insightful)

    by srjames ( 849628 ) on Monday January 31, 2005 @12:33AM (#11525673) Homepage
    Did any of you actually read the article? It says "Mr. Negroponte's idea is to develop educational software and have the portable personal computer replace textbooks in schools" The computers aren't meant to surf the web. They're meant to be used for EDUCATION. I'm sure you all know how much textbooks cost. Then figure having to have a separate textbook for each subject. Now figure that in order for those to be useful they have to be replaced every few years. For the (approximate) cost of two regular textbooks you can provide a computer that can replace many, many textbooks for years to come. Is education one of the many things these countries need? Absolutely. Is this $100 computer a viable and more sensible replacement? Of course. These computers are aimed at a specific problem, and by helping with that problem you'll have access to working on -many- other problems that these countries face.

  • Look who's involved. (Score:3, Interesting)

    by IGnatius T Foobar ( 4328 ) on Monday January 31, 2005 @12:46AM (#11525718) Homepage Journal
    Look who's involved: Google and Linux. This looks like a back-door plan to make network computing finally happen in big numbers. These devices really don't need to do much more than boot into Firefox, and the apps will all run on Google's massive server network.

  • Solutions for 0m altitude (Score:4, Insightful)

    by mattr ( 78516 ) <mattr&telebody,com> on Monday January 31, 2005 @04:28AM (#11526592) Homepage Journal
    I have not been to Africa myself. But I've supported a project which builds schools and uses computers for medical and other communication in Cambodia. I also was involved in a project called Science and Technology in Society Forum [stsforum.org] last November which brought together politicians, businesspeople, and scientists from around the world - a very influential crowd - to try to solve global issues like those discussed here.

    In the e-society session, everyone except me and a bright Intel VP thought politicians would solve all the problems, we thought engineers would. Then a man from Nigeria stood up. It took him 2 days to get to Kyoto. He said he appreciated everyone's enthusiam, but you know there are problems like where to get firewood. A major problem is smart people leaving the villages. In the Cambodian projects I know, political problems and human, ground level problems are like an axe taken to bright slashdotesque suggestions (I have offered plenty believe me), and the number of people working full time with insight into what it takes are very few.

    I have been a volunteer helping a website that asks people to buy mosquito nets for Cambodia. It is very cheap to buy a net that can keep malaria away when you sleep. A couple days ago Sharon Stone raised a million dollars for these nets and that was a stunner. Wow. I think she said something like, "People are dying in your country now and that is not okay with me now" and started with a 10,000 bucks donation.

    The ex-Newsweek journalist I have worked with on Cambodia (Bernard Krisher) has gotten companies and individuals to donate 10,000 dollars each to build a school with their name on it (matched by the World Bank). A little more for solar panels that could drive a computer. Negroponte's media lab has been involved in these projects too - in fact maybe it is all connected.

    I think computing definitely is useful. But I think we need more people who know what is going on there. I feel that there are lots more technological solutions out there but not enough knowledgeable people networked together to converge on solving specific problems. For example you may remember the story about LAN on a motorcycle that drives through Cambodian villages to exchange email and maybe take someone to a hospital (Krisher's Motoman project). I have wondered if ham radio or satellite radio might not be better but am not trained in it, and the reality is it takes someone who is really tough to get things done. If it is done at a primitive level with minimal technology and a lot of stubbornness, people on the ground and some sponsorship, it has a chance at working it seems.

    But I wonder about the physicist in Rhode Island (mentioned on slashdot?) I heard of who developed a new kind of antenna that could provide the same output as a massive tower. I know there is packet ham radio which can go around the world. Satellites are passing overhead all the time probably. But where is the discussion by the physicists, ham fanatics, solar power geeks, and satellite geeks? How to plug it in to participation by the people who know the ground and what works?

    As it happens I think one issue that used to be a big worry (maybe no more) in Cambodia when I started 10 years ago was that radio use would draw fire from the military. Oh well. Is that still true? I doubt it.

    So my conclusion. I think Sharon Stone is wonderful and anything that can have similar effects is good, provided the money is used well. So an English documentary on the conditions on the ground might be good, anything that makes it more transparent to the media-saturated world and gets visible to the people with resources and heart. Certainly open source, technology, and ad hoc networking is useful there. I also think more attention and support needs to be given to the people who are actually doing things, to help them, learn lessons, and accelerate aid. Networking might be useful to get people who have left the town to talk to peop

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