Will this Laptop Change the World?
Rapoza, Jim. "Will this laptop change the world?" e-Week. 13 August 2007.
The XO is a system created for the One Laptop per Child project. Nicholas Negroponte of Massachusetts Institue of Technology set out to build a $100 laptop that could be distributed to children and schools in developing countries. The system actually costs around $175 and is ready for deployment around the world. The system looks like a kid's toy with its bright green color, rubber membrane keyboard, and rabbit ears. But it is actually very sturdy and well built. The display on the XO uses diagonal color stripes (instead of horizontal). Each pixel is both black-and-white and color. The XO is made to be able to use outdoors, so the content on the screen must be readable in direct sunlight. To solve this, a black-and-white high resolution display is used in the sunlight, while color is used in a room or at night. The XO uses only about 1 watt of power during an idling state, which is significantly less than the 14 watts used by Energy Star-compliant laptops. It can use two different battery technologies: classic nickel-metal hydride or the newer lithium-iron phosphate. The OLPC has done extensive heat testing on both battery types. The OLPC wanted to increase the life of the battery so they designed it to last more than five years, or 2,000 to 3,000 recharges. Because of the battery's low replacement cost ($10), the OLPC is considering including a spare battery with every system. The XO uses wireless mesh technology, which is identified by the laptop's rabbit-ear antennas. When the antennas are in the down position, they protect the laptop's USB and audio ports; in the up position, the antennas boost range. The wireless system turns every XO into a wireless router so that in a village or small town where there is only one source for Internet connection, children in the village can connect to one another and the Internet by connecting to other XO's over the mesh. The XO was also made to be durable. The system has many green-colored bumpers and handles which provide cushioning for the system and the display. The rubber membrane keyboard is water-resistant and is made to be easily swapped for different languages and character sets. In order to keep the systems from being stolen and sold, all XO's are shipped in a nonfunctioning state, and when they arrive at their final destination, a trusted person must activate the system using a special USB key. If the system is stolen, it can be remotely deactivated or rendered nonfunctional. The software run by the XO is the Red Hat Fedora Linux-based Sugar interface. The applications in Sugar that come on the system include a Firefox-based Web browser, a simple writing application, an RSS reader, an e-book reader, a drawing tool, and many learning games.
This is significant because not only are kids in developing countries going to get laptops, but the technology used in the XO could change the face of current systems, especially in power consumption. There is a possibility that XOs may be sold to the public at a price that helps subsidize their deployment to the development countries.
My friend says that this laptop could change the world because it could provide developing countries exposure to Jesus Christ.
Rapoza, Jim. "Will this laptop change the world?" e-Week. 13 August 2007.
The XO is a system created for the One Laptop per Child project. Nicholas Negroponte of Massachusetts Institue of Technology set out to build a $100 laptop that could be distributed to children and schools in developing countries. The system actually costs around $175 and is ready for deployment around the world. The system looks like a kid's toy with its bright green color, rubber membrane keyboard, and rabbit ears. But it is actually very sturdy and well built. The display on the XO uses diagonal color stripes (instead of horizontal). Each pixel is both black-and-white and color. The XO is made to be able to use outdoors, so the content on the screen must be readable in direct sunlight. To solve this, a black-and-white high resolution display is used in the sunlight, while color is used in a room or at night. The XO uses only about 1 watt of power during an idling state, which is significantly less than the 14 watts used by Energy Star-compliant laptops. It can use two different battery technologies: classic nickel-metal hydride or the newer lithium-iron phosphate. The OLPC has done extensive heat testing on both battery types. The OLPC wanted to increase the life of the battery so they designed it to last more than five years, or 2,000 to 3,000 recharges. Because of the battery's low replacement cost ($10), the OLPC is considering including a spare battery with every system. The XO uses wireless mesh technology, which is identified by the laptop's rabbit-ear antennas. When the antennas are in the down position, they protect the laptop's USB and audio ports; in the up position, the antennas boost range. The wireless system turns every XO into a wireless router so that in a village or small town where there is only one source for Internet connection, children in the village can connect to one another and the Internet by connecting to other XO's over the mesh. The XO was also made to be durable. The system has many green-colored bumpers and handles which provide cushioning for the system and the display. The rubber membrane keyboard is water-resistant and is made to be easily swapped for different languages and character sets. In order to keep the systems from being stolen and sold, all XO's are shipped in a nonfunctioning state, and when they arrive at their final destination, a trusted person must activate the system using a special USB key. If the system is stolen, it can be remotely deactivated or rendered nonfunctional. The software run by the XO is the Red Hat Fedora Linux-based Sugar interface. The applications in Sugar that come on the system include a Firefox-based Web browser, a simple writing application, an RSS reader, an e-book reader, a drawing tool, and many learning games.
This is significant because not only are kids in developing countries going to get laptops, but the technology used in the XO could change the face of current systems, especially in power consumption. There is a possibility that XOs may be sold to the public at a price that helps subsidize their deployment to the development countries.
My friend says that this laptop could change the world because it could provide developing countries exposure to Jesus Christ.
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