Roy Schestowitz <newsgroups@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx> espoused:
> __/ [ Mark Kent ] on Tuesday 20 March 2007 12:21 \__
>
>> [H]omer <spam@xxxxxxx> espoused:
>>>
>> <snip>
>>> One minute DVD players are sold exclusively in Hi-Fi shops for hundreds
>>> or even thousands; the next minute you can pick up a region-free player
>>> in ASDA (Walmart) for peanuts, stuffed into your trolley on top of your
>>> groceries. It was quite a culture shock when it first started.
>>>
>>> The irony is, that these cheap Taiwanese imports are often much more
>>> functional than their more expensive counterparts (at least in every way
>>> that actually matters - such as being region-free, or being able to play
>>> a wider range of media like XviD and MP3, for example). And all that for
>>> just 10 or 15 quid. Amazing.
>>>
>>> I foresee a future where supermarkets sell 50 quid Linux PCs, maybe even
>>> the OLPC XO system itself, and the era of rip-off Windows PCs comes
>>> crashing to an end (pun intended).
>>>
>>
>> This is a very prescient remark, in my view. I think the XO machine is
>> going to be a revolutionary device - it will overturn the laptop market
>> like nothing else which has ever appeared. I think it will have a truly
>> dramatic effect on the world of education, and I think it will bring
>> portable computing into the hands of the masses who previously just
>> could not afford it.
>>
>> As you say, once Asda have it on their shelves...
>
> I can imagine a generation of young kids glued to the screen of their laptop
> though. And 50 quid (even less in a matter of years) is something that will
> lift that barrier which says laptops are only for adults.
>
It would be so inexpensive that it would be heading for the disposable
end of the market, or at least, the not worth nicking end of the market.
For most kids, I can see that as an educational aid it could be superb.
I can imagine libraries and so on offering public wifi, and kids taking
their OXs in to work on them.
--
| Mark Kent -- mark at ellandroad dot demon dot co dot uk |
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