Monday, January 15, 2007

$100 laptop due next year

By Christian Science Monitor
For the past 40 years, the Consumer Electronics Show has served as a mecca for the latest technological marvels geared to the tastes of affluent first-worlders.

But at this year's show in Las Vegas, one new device aims to suit some of the world's poorest consumers. The One Laptop Per Child Initiative unveiled its final industrial prototype of the XO, a laptop computer with a toylike look.

But to say it's a toy is misleading. The device is intended to bring the most isolated tribal village into the Information Age, with the ultimate goal of offering one to every child on the planet.

The XO is designed to survive and thrive in a rugged, power-sparse environment. Whereas a typical modern laptop requires 40 watts of power to use, this power miser needs a meager three watts to browse the Web and less than a single watt to display an electronic book.

FULL STORY

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