£99 laptop could hatch the Linux generation
,----[ Quote ]
| This might be considered another brick in the wall to mainstream PC
| manufacturers and Microsoft for two reasons.
|
| Firstly, as my old college chum Martin Waller pointed out to me, this new
| generation of Linux/OpenOffice aficionados would naturally want to transfer
| their skills and technologies into the workplace. This worked for a now
| forgotten computer company called DEC (aka Digital Equipment) in the 1970s. A
| generation of engineering and computer science graduates entered the
| workplace after having used the company’s PDP/11 machine in their college
| years and started demanding to have access to similar, easy-to-use,
| mini-computers at work. This process helped speed the demise of the
| centralised mainframe computer.
|
| Secondly, for Microsoft to have any hope of being incorporated in to these
| kinds of super-cheap, commodity products then they will have to drop the
| licence fee for Windows and Office.
`----
http://techlun.ch/2008/02/29/99-laptop-could-hatch-the-linux-generation/
Recent:
Elonex £99 Eee PC rival to arrive in June
,----[ Quote ]
| Elonex has rolled out its sub-£100 Linux-based laptop, the One, but it looks
| like it's going to prove harder get hold of than Asus Eee PC has been.
`----
http://www.reghardware.co.uk/2008/02/28/elonex_launches_one/
Related:
PCs for Five C's
,----[ Quote ]
| These days, several vendors stock $199 Linux systems ready to be the family's
| fifth or sixth.
`----
http://itmanagement.earthweb.com/article.php/3730721
How I Shopped for An Ubuntu Laptop
,----[ Quote ]
| So I now have in my happy hands my own custom, personally configured laptop.
| It’s not as good as buying a machine with Ubuntu pre-loaded, but it was a
| close second. I got it fully loaded with aT9300 processor, 2GB of RAM,
| bluetooth, Intel Wireless, and Nvidia 8600m GT graphics. And I got it for
| nearly $1000 less than I was planning on paying for a T61. It’s a little
| bigger than I’d hoped, and has a glossy paintjob which I hate, but it is fast
| and runs Ubuntu like a champ.
`----
http://allaboutubuntu.wordpress.com/2008/02/26/how-i-shopped-for-an-ubuntu-laptop/
Give an Old Laptop New Life with Cheap (or Free) Projects
,----[ Quote ]
| Like a famed race horse or a classic book, you don't just throw away a laptop
| because it's banged up a little. Even if it seems outdated and underpowered,
| most any laptop is still small, quiet, and relatively low on power
| consumption, making it a seriously valuable spare to keep handy—even without
| a working screen. With some free software, a little know-how and some
| creative thinking about your home network, nearly any old laptop can find its
| second wind, and today I'll run through some of the best ways to get it
| there.
`----
http://lifehacker.com/359389/give-an-old-laptop-new-life-with-cheap-or-free-projects
Linux will dominate UK schools within 5 years
,----[ Quote ]
| Yes, it does seem unlikely doesn't it? Windows has been the only reality for
| several generations of computer users. But is the tide finally beginning to
| turn?
|
| At the Education Show held in February 2007, the talk was of 'sustainable'
| computing and how schools could use technology to reduce their 'carbon
| footprint'. Nobody had any idea of what was to come – a host of Linux-based,
| ultra-portable, incredibly cheap and very green personal laptops.
`----
http://www.siriusit.co.uk/myblog/linux-will-dominate-uk-schools-within-5-years.html
Linux Laptops Reach Critical Mass
,----[ Quote ]
| Toss in Ubuntu’s growing popularity on desktops and laptops, and it appears
| as if Linux for PCs and laptops is finally ready to go mainstream. For more
| on Ubuntu and Linux going mainstream,
`----
http://www.thevarguy.com/2008/02/20/linux-laptops-reach-critical-mass/
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
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
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
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
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
|
|
