A student has a project on life in a poverty-stricken country, so what do they do for more information? They go to the computer. Stop and think for just a moment what the children do for information in that poverty-stricken country. Nicholas Negroponte and a group of veterans at Media Lab did think about it. In fact, they began a group that would soon be joined by exceptionally talented people in the open-source community to work towards the goal of providing One Laptop Per Child.

While the project has been a long time coming, from ideas originated while computers were still mammoth-like objects that took up a whole room, no one can say the project comes too late. The goal of OLPC is a timely one: to provide children around the world with new opportunities to explore, experiment, and express themselves. The project features a $200 laptop with a bright screen for easy readability in direct sunlight and pencil-sharpener inspired crank to recharge its high efficiency battery. As far as software, although Microsoft and Apple both tried to provide versions of their operating systems to OLPC, ultimately they required too many resources and a “lite” version of the open-source system Linux was used.

One of the coolest features of this laptop, called the XO, is that despite its miniscule power requirements, it includes a networking technology that “meshes” each computer together, connecting every child in a village to each other, as well as to any Internet connection that might be available, such as a satellite link or cellular connection. This link can connect XOs up to a third of a mile away! The camera also has a video camera and built-in speakers and can be run in black-and-white or color modes.

Since its inception, OLPC has seen its fair share of supporters and critics. Many say: Why develop countries of foreign nations when children here at home are without technology? A Birmingham, AL mayoral advisor, Bob McKenna, announced recently they were providing every K-8 student in the city with an XO for use in schools. With instances like this, a gray line is being drawn about who can have one, where they can have them, and what they can do with them (some laptops have been reportedly used to access pornographic websites. To make matters worse, a Nigerian firm’s recent patent infringement lawsuit of $20M puts the kibosh on the units being sold there. It seems that what began as a “Good Samaritan” project to spread education to parts of the world with little or no technology might wind up being tangled up in the almighty dollar. You’re going to want to stay tuned to the development of this project. In the meantime, check out Ebay where you can buy them for yourself or your own children… just don’t ask where they came from!

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