The One Laptop Per Child group, an association dedicated to getting low cost laptops to the children of poor countries in an attempt to improve learning, have announced the second version of their laptop. The new design, more book-shaped than laptop, is expected to be sold for $75 per unit, far less than the current version which goes for $188. The original $188 laptop was at first supposed to sell for just $100, so it’s anyone’s guess whether the OLPC group will hit its target of $75.
Either way, the project intrigues me. It’s a fascinating objective to try to get laptops into the hands of kids in third world countries. These laptops are practically armor plated – able to handle all sorts of abuse – yet surprisingly small and portable.
As a teacher in Canada, I’m also wondering when really cheap laptops might be available out here. I realize OLPC is a charity and so the laptops don’t sell for their full, real cost, but imagine that significantly cheaper laptop computers were available here in Canada. If most kids in most schools could have nearly continuous access to a computer, well, it would change an awful lot about how school is taught. The thought is exciting.