The posts have been slow and few lately, but I have been in Shanghai on production meetings. Amongst the hustle of a busy week and just one too many VW Santana Taxis, I was hit square in the face with a first hand look into poverty and deprivation.
The mother and young daughter combination sitting up against the bin along busy Huaihai Lu was the straw that finally broke the camel’s back. I resisted in getting too engaged with the numerous homeless beggars in this big metropolis, but faced with the smile of a 1 year old girl who was oblivious to her bleak future on this cold and wet night in Shanghai, I couldn’t just walk by. I handed over the $200RMB I had on me and hoped that this small gesture would at least bring some joy for a short while.
This leads me to what this post is really about - The One Laptop Per Child Project, an initiative that can really make a difference. To tell you the truth, I’ve paid very little attention to the development of the project previously, but in reality and after some research, it’s truly an inspiring project.
Their aim:
The MIT Media Lab has launched a new research initiative to develop a $100 laptop—a technology that could revolutionize how we educate the world’s children. To achieve this goal, a new, non-profit association, One Laptop per Child (OLPC), has been created, which is independent of MIT.
These laptops are Linux-based, open source, rugged laptops that have 500 MB of RAM but only 500 MB of flash memory space — no hard drives as well as no disk, CD, or DVD drives. One of their most innovative features is that they can be manually powered, with a pedal or other such mechanism. They will also test for the ruggedness of the laptop by dropping them and having kids step on them. Interesting! Learn more about the specs and history of the computers here.
OLPC’s progress has been somewhat slow because they really need government backing and support to take off. It seems the first targets are Latin American and African countries, but with the production line of these machines in Shanghai (notebook manufacturer - Quanta), you’d hope some momentum will be generated in Shanghai as well.
Check out more pics on the laptop on Design Sojourn
Its just a great project. With little memory means it will all be web driven, which personally i feel is the next wave of software generation.
sounds dynamo…a dynamo driven laptop, much like emergency radio and flash light. wonder how long it will last for 50 cranks…
poverty is everywhere if one decides to look and see. there are so much in the world around us that things are taken for granted, a little philanthropy goes a long way