Zero-cost computing, revisited...

I was listening to Radio-Canada's Première Chaine this morning. They reminded me about a story I've heard at least a year ago.

The mighty $100 laptop computer. That was the initial price tag. One could say that this is "zero-cost" computing, to us the wealthy... but this is for children in the "developing world", the very politically correct word... and when you look on a map... you get humble. VERY humble.

Digression aside, it is a sturdy laptop computer, water and dust proof, it can withstand the wear and tear of use and abuse by children. Such laptops do not need the latest CPU, nor fastest bus speed, memory speed etc, nor a fancy schmancy graphic card. This brings cost considerably down. On the software side, there are great softwares around, at little or no cost...

This is Nicholas Negroponte's project.

To kickstart creativity, to boost learning. To bridge the technology gap between the western world that we live... and the rest of the world.

You know the saying, today's children will be the adults of tomorrow. It isn't stated explicitly, but there is a bit of that too.

As a computer professional, trained to solve zillions of problems (and when I'm off duty, I am the computer doctor. To my friends, I'm Mr. Fix-it :) ), I was a little bit worried about the success of that project. Despite a rough shell... a computer is still a sophisticated electronic device. Too sophisticated for the rough terrain, that's my fear. Above all, a computer requires... infrastructure.

As in my younger years in involvement with aid organizations for African countries taught me, when you don't have a stable government, when a government is *too* heavily corrupted... forget about infrastructure (water, sewer, electricity, etc). It won't get built, and the existing one will get ruined sooner or later, whether because of lack of maintenance, whether of civil war, whether of many issues which in the West do not exist, nor could ever be thought of.

Also, we tend to bring western-like thinking in all of our makes, so the western way of doing things are often doomed when exported.

But you have to start somewhere. To break that ill-pattern. So I have high hopes about those low-cost laptop computers. Since I didn't hear much since the initial announcement, I was a little bit worried.

They are making headlines these days. To keep cost down with mass volume, as well as boosting distribution of these XO laptops in developing world, for the month of November, they will have the "Give 1 Get 1" program.

You pay for the cost of TWO laptops. One laptop that will go to a child, thanks to your contribution, and the other laptop for your own child... or to the child sleeping in you, if you don't have children. :)

I figure that such initiatives deserve a tip of the hat (which I'm doing :) ).

As a technician, I'm naturally curious at these little machines. I might indeed "Give 1 Get 1" this November. And yes I admit, beyond all these grand and noble principles, there's the inner child sleeping in me. :)

Cheers!

-E

Links:
XO Giving: http://www.xogiving.org/
XO Laptops, "One laptop per child" http://www.laptop.org/