OLPC
From LIS 460 Summer 2007
One Laptop Per Child
The One Laptop Per Child program was initiated with the theory that the technology exists to provide a durable and adaptable laptop computer for every child in the world at a very low cost. The basic aim of the project is to target children in developing nations and the laptops have been designed with that in mind. The project has been stated by its founders not to be a laptop project so much as an education project[1].
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History of OLPC
The One Laptop Per Child project was started by the MIT Media Lab in 2005 with a research initiative to develop a cheap and effective personal computer for use by children currently without access to a computer or the internet. The non-profit organization, OLPC, was founded shortly afterwards and is no longer directly affiliated with MIT.
The history of the theory of the project goes a little further back to at least 2002 when Nicholas Negroponte, now the chairman of the project, provided 20 internet connected laptop computers to children in a remote Cambodian village. In the same year Seymour Papert, one of the developers of Logo (an early programming language designed for children to use), worked with the governor of Maine to distribute computers on a wide scale to every seventh grade student in the state. These events provide a jumping off point for the ideals of the project, which are to provide computers and internet access to every child regardless of economic and geographic status[2].
The original corporate members of the OLPC project when it was founded in 2005 were AMD, Newscorp., Google and Red Hat. Later members include: Brightstar, Design Continuum, Nortel, eBay, SES-Astra and most recently Intel[3].
Current Status of the Project
Currently the project is still moving forward. Production has started on the laptop, called the XO, and developers have been creating new software for it since developer boards were shipped in June of 2006. Children in some launch countries have already recieved prototype machines for beta-testing.[4].
As of late July 2007 the following countries are committed to participating in the OLPC project: Argentina, Brazil, Libya, Nigeria, Uruguay and Rwanda. Other countries are involved in talks with OLPC about the project but some, such as Romania, claim that the cost is still too high[5].
While the aim of the project is to provide laptops to children in developing nations in April of 2007 OLPC added the USA to its list of participating nations[6].
The OLPC Laptop
The physical laptop part of the OLPC project has been developed as a cost-efficient and energy efficient machine which can be powered by a variety of sources including solar power, a foot pedal, a hand crank and others[7]. The closed laptop is roughly the size of a textbook and has rounded edges and a handle for carrying. The hardware for the laptop makes it durable and usable in a number of different environments including high heat, pouring rain and direct sunlight. At a demonstration of the laptop in April of 2007 the laptop was used outside in a downpour for an hour with no change in function[8].
Specs for the internal components can be found here.
The software for the laptop is open source programming and free. This is part of the effort to both keep the laptop itself low-cost and also to encourage innovation[9].
Cost and Quality
The ideal for the XO is a cost of no more than $100 USD. Currently the XO costs $176 USD but members of the project claim that with increased production cost per unit will go down[10]. The means by which OLPC keeps the costs down are a combination of the open source software which eliminates software costs, innovative hardware and large production numbers[11].
Some have questioned the XO's quality, claiming that it cannot do everything a standard retail laptop can do. OLPC has not disputed this, claiming instead that the aim of the XO is to further education, which it does[12].
The question of quality falls to how one gauges quality and performance.
