Negroponte: OLPC Machine Will Be $50 in 2011, Electronics Are "Obese"
,----[ Quote ]
| "If you make anything electronic today, you know that eighteen months from
| today, it will cost you half of what it does today," he said. "But if you
| make (electronics), you have no interest in that product being half price in
| eighteen months."
|
| So, as we all know, electronics manufacturers fatten up cell phones with
| cameras and MP3 players, etc. Negroponte termed this problem, "a general
| obesity in the electronics industry." He went on to say, "Most laptops are
| like SUVs. You're using most of the energy to move the car, not the person."
`----
http://blog.wired.com/wiredscience/2008/02/negroponte-olpc.html
This one is getting a lot of publicity at the moment:
UK's Elonex releases £99 OLPC rival
,----[ Quote ]
| Referring to the device's use of Linux, the spokesperson said that — aside
| from the fact that avoiding Windows brings down the cost of the laptop — the
| decision was influenced by government guidelines that encourage a "move away
| from the monopoly Microsoft has".
`----
http://news.zdnet.co.uk/hardware/0,1000000091,39292891,00.htm
It's not an OLPC rival though. Different target audience, different software.
Days ago:
The £99 laptop: how can it be so cheap?
,----[ Quote ]
| A new laptop computer for just £99 sounds like the kind of offer found in a
| spam e-mail or on a dodgy auction website. But the British company Elonex is
| launching the country’s first sub £100 computer later this month and hopes to
| be making 200,000 of them by the summer. It will be aimed at schoolchildren
| and teenagers, and looks set to throw the market for budget laptops wide
| open.
|
| Called the One, it can be used as a traditional notebook computer or, with
| the screen detached from the keyboard, as a portable “tablet” – albeit
| without the planned touchscreen that Elonex had to abandon to hit its £99
| price tag. Wi-fi technology lets users access the internet or swap music (and
| homework) files between computers wirelessly.
|
| [...]
|
| The secret is simple: open-source software. The One runs on Linux, which is a
| rival to Windows but completely free to use. Open-source software can be
| freely swapped or modified by anyone who wants it. In the past such operating
| systems (there are several of them) have been outgunned by the more
| sophisticated Windows programs. However, an open-source operating system is
| ideal for low-cost devices as it performs well on less powerful, cheaper
| hardware.
`----
http://technology.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/tech_and_web/personal_tech/article3374812.ece
Last week:
Sri Lanka to introduce one laptop per child
,----[ Quote ]
| Two-million primary school children are to be provided with US$ 100-worth
| laptops under a farsighted initiative.
|
| This is being launched by One Laptop Per Child (OLPC), a US based
| organisation in collaboration with the Education Department and several local
| and foreign financial, technological and academic institutions.
`----
http://www.sundaytimes.lk/080210/FinancialTimes/ft310.html
Mini-laptop sweeps through schools
,----[ Quote ]
| RM, the company supplying the Minibook computer to schools, sold out its
| first order of 6,000 within weeks, and is now projecting school sales of
| 30,000 by the end of the year. They are attracting the attention of IT
| teachers, and with them a multimillion-pound market in school computing so
| far dominated by Microsoft, the Goliath to RM's David.
|
| [...]
|
| Last year the government spent £801m on IT equipment for schools. Microsoft
| has the lion's share of the market, but the Minibooks circumvent this iron
| grip by using Linux open source software instead of Microsoft Windows Vista.
`----
http://education.guardian.co.uk/schools/story/0,,2255522,00.html
Related:
Nortel considers Linux desktops for its staff
,----[ Quote ]
| Nortel CIO Steve Bandrowczak, who joined the Canadian telecoms and network
| equipment vendor last July, said "more and more CIOs are looking at Linux
| desktop for reasons of TCO" and argued that the technology "is receiving the
| same level of attention today as when Linux started on servers."
`----
http://www.mbtmag.com/articleXml/LN731846314.html
French police deal blow to Microsoft
,----[ Quote ]
| The French paramilitary police force said Wednesday it is ditching Microsoft
| for the free Linux operating system, becoming one of the biggest
| administrations in the world to make the break.
`----
http://afp.google.com/article/ALeqM5iU4Lq7tOR_WVOJLZ3IeRaIH03x6w
How will Linux win the OS wars? From the bottom up!
,----[ Quote ]
| So therefore, best way to win the war of the operating systems is not to go
| after the high end market.
`----
http://www.raiden.net/?cat=2&aid=352
|
|
