Move over OLPC - here comes the $12 computer
You’ve almost certainly heard about One Laptop Per Child, the organization trying to build low cost portable computers for the developing world.
The current edition of the OLPC laptop might have had more trouble than its creators had hoped, but a new version - dubbed XOXO - was unveiled earlier this year, and by the time it gets out in the wild, Nicholas Negroponte has said it could cost as little as $75.
That probably seems like untold riches to another group who are instead trying to build something even cheaper - a $12 desktop computer for the developing world. Yes, $12!
The team of researchers, out of MIT, hope that creating a machine based on the old Nintendo Entertainment System will help get computing into the hands of ordinary people in difficult circumstances (it had - incorrectly - been reported that the system was based on an Apple II).
The team’s project homepage describes it as “exploring the possibility of using 8-bit computers as a platform for locally-relevant, effective educational software for middle income families, particularly in developing economies”.
It’s certainly at the other end of the scale from OLPC, but it’s interesting to see two different approaches trying to achieve a similar result.
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