It seems like just yesterday when the One Laptop Per Child program was announced, but it’s already been three years. At this point the organization, led by Nicholas Negroponte, is ready to introduce the design of the next generation of affordable laptops so that children around the world will have new opportunities to learn. Just yesterday at a media event at MIT, Negroponte unveiled the next-gen laptop and it sure is amazing. It’s being called XOXO or XO-2, but it isn’t expected until 2010 and they’re hoping they’ll be able to sell them at a price of $75.
The best way to describe it is that it looks like an E-book. It uses dual-touchscreens, and the screens they use are what you’d find in portable DVD players which helps keep the costs down. In a presentation yesterday, Negroponte said, “The reason you can have the audacity to do this is that the 16:9 displays on DVD players are so inexpensive that to anticipate them costing $20 each is not out of the question.”
An official press release gives us a better idea of what the XOXO is about:
Enhanced Book Experience - Dual-touch sensitive displays will be used to enhance the e-book experience, with a dual-mode display similar to the current XO laptop. The design provides a right and left page in vertical format, a hinged laptop in horizontal format, and a flat two-screen wide continuous surface that can be used in tablet mode. Younger children will be able to use simple keyboards to get going, and older children will be able to switch between keyboards customized for applications as well as for multiple languages.
Take a look at the images below. The thing looks pretty amazing, doesn’t it? What child anywhere in the world wouldn’t want the opportunity to use something like that to learn?
2010 isn’t THAT far away, do you think the organization will be able to pull off this neat concept and be able to meet their goal of selling it at $75?
Source: Gizmodo
Thanks for the tip S!
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Okay, who knows where to find the fountain of youth?!
Pardon me, but I’m very pessimistic on this one. That technology looks very advanced to be sold for $75, and more considering how the goal of the first OLPC was not meet, nor in terms on demand and surely not in its first price.
Then there is also the question of whether the organization will survive until then or not, taking into account the problems they’re going through. It would be nice if it succeeds, but with all these problems and competition from other players (Asus, Intel, MSI, etc.) it’s going to be tough.
You’re right in that the goal of the first OLPC in terms of price has not been met… yet. Their goal is to continue to drop the price and by 2010 it should be under the $100 mark.
It’s understandable that you’re pessimistic about it, but from the sounds of it, the parts they are using are pretty affordable like using the same screens you’d find on portable DVD players as the touchscreens. $75 may be a little on the low side, but I’d imagine they’d be able to make these for at least the cost that the current generation sells for.
It’ll definitely be interesting to see what happens…