OLPC website files 2006-02-14 12:00-0500 YEAR-MO-DA HO:MI+ZONE FULL NAME <EMAIL@ADDRESS> LANGUAGE <LL@li.org> 1.0 text/plain; charset=CHARSET ENCODING

Project-Id-Version: OLPC website files POT-Creation-Date: 2006-02-14 12:00-0500 PO-Revision-Date: YEAR-MO-DA HO:MI+ZONE Last-Translator: FULL NAME <EMAIL@ADDRESS> Language-Team: LANGUAGE <LL@li.org> MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=CHARSET Content-Transfer-Encoding: ENCODING align _: the alignment (left or right) of your lannguage goes here title One Laptop per Child laptop.html 4294967295 content One Laptop per Child (OLPC) is a new, non-profit association dedicated to research to develop a $100 laptop—a technology that could revolutionize how we educate the world's children. language _: the name of your language goes here navhome HOME navwiki WIKI navcommunity COMMUNITY NEWS navfaq FAQ navpeople PEOPLE navpress PRESS navdownload DOWNLOADS navmap MAP navcontact Contact OLPC homebody1 One Laptop per Child (OLPC) is a new, non-profit association dedicated to research to develop a $100 laptop—a technology that could revolutionize how we educate the world's children. This initiative was first announced by Nicholas Negroponte, chairman of OLPC, at the World Economic Forum at Davos, Switzerland in January 2005. homebody2 Our goal: to provide children around the world with new opportunities to explore, experiment, and express themselves. homebody3 Please note that the $100 laptops—not yet in production—will not be available for sale. The laptops will only be distributed to schools directly through large government initiatives. peoplebody1 PRINCIPALS peoplebody2 ADVISORS peoplebody3 See bios by clicking on the PEOPLE menu item. wikibody1 We maintain a <b>WIKI</b> for the project, where we invite the community to discuss: (1) the hardware; (2) the software; (3) educational content; (4) launch plans; (5) how to get involved; and (6) add questions to our FAQ. wikibody2 Visit the WIKI by clicking on the WIKI menu item. communitybody1 We maintain a weekly update for the OLPC community that can be viewed by clicking on the COMMUNITY NEWS menu item. faqbody1 What is the $100 Laptop, really? The proposed $100 machine will be a Linux-based, with a dual-mode display—both a full-color, transmissive DVD mode, and a second display option that is black and white reflective and sunlight-readable at 3× the resolution. The laptop will have a 500MHz processor and 128MB of DRAM, with 500MB of Flash memory; it will not have a hard disk, but it will have four USB ports. The laptops will have wireless broadband that, among other things, allows them to work as a mesh network; each laptop will be able to talk to its nearest neighbors, creating an ad hoc, local area network. The laptops will use innovative power (including wind-up) and will be able to do most everything except store huge amounts of data. faqbody2 View our frequently asked questions by clicking on the FAQ menu item. pressbody1 See a list of press releases by clicking on the PRESS menu item. downloadbody1 Download images (and eventually software and other materials) are available by clicking on the DOWNLOAD menu item. mapbody1 Our world map is color-coded to indicate: (green) those countries we plan to pilot; (orange) those countries who have expressed interest at the Ministry-of-Education level or higher; and (yellow) those countries who are currently seeking government support. heading1 FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS faq.html 4294967295 heading2 Nicholas Negroponte, chairman of One Laptop per Child, answers questions on the initiative. question1 What is the $100 Laptop, really? answer1 The proposed $100 machine will be a Linux-based, with a dual-mode display—both a full-color, transmissive DVD mode, and a second display option that is black and white reflective and sunlight-readable at 3× the resolution. The laptop will have a 500MHz processor and 128MB of DRAM, with 500MB of Flash memory; it will not have a hard disk, but it will have four USB ports. The laptops will have wireless broadband that, among other things, allows them to work as a mesh network; each laptop will be able to talk to its nearest neighbors, creating an ad hoc, local area network. The laptops will use innovative power (including wind-up) and will be able to do most everything except store huge amounts of data. question2 Why do children in developing nations need laptops? answer2 Laptops are both a window and a tool: a window into the world and a tool with which to think. They are a wonderful way for all children to <i>learn learning</i> through independent interaction and exploration. question3 Why not a desktop computer, or—even better—a recycled desktop machine? answer3 Desktops are cheaper, but mobility is important, especially with regard to taking the computer home at night. Kids in the developing world need the newest technology, especially really rugged hardware and innovative software. Recent work with schools in Maine has shown the huge value of using a laptop across all of one's studies, as well as for play. Bringing the laptop home engages the family. In one Cambodian village where we have been working, there is no electricity, thus the laptop is, among other things, the brightest light source in the home.<br/><br/>Finally, regarding recycled machines: if we estimate 100 million available used desktops, and each one requires only one hour of human attention to refurbish, reload, and handle, that is forty-five thousand work years. Thus, while we definitely encourage the recycling of used computers, it is not the solution for One Laptop per Child. question4 How is it possible to get the cost so low? answer4 * First, by dramatically lowering the cost of the display. The first-generation machine will have a novel, dual-mode display that represents improvements to the LCD displays commonly found in inexpensive DVD players. These displays can be used in high-resolution black and white in bright sunlight—all at a cost of approximately $35.<br/><br/>* Second, we will get the fat out of the systems. Today's laptops have become obese. Two-thirds of their software is used to manage the other third, which mostly does the same functions nine different ways.<br/>* Third, we will market the laptops in very large numbers (millions), directly to ministries of education, which can distribute them like textbooks. question5 Why is it important for each child to have a computer? What's wrong with community-access centers? answer5 One does not think of community pencils—kids have their own. They are tools to think with, sufficiently inexpensive to be used for work and play, drawing, writing, and mathematics. A computer can be the same, but far more powerful. Furthermore, there are many reasons it is important for a child to <i>own</i> something—like a football, doll, or book—not the least of which being that these belongings will be well-maintained through love and care. question6 What about connectivity? Aren't telecommunications services expensive in the developing world? answer6 When these machines pop out of the box, they will make a mesh network of their own, peer-to-peer. This is something initially developed at MIT and the Media Lab. We are also exploring ways to connect them to the backbone of the Internet at very low cost. question7 What can a $1000 laptop do that the $100 version can't? answer7 Not much. The plan is for the $100 Laptop to do almost everything. What it will not do is store a massive amount of data. question8 How will these be marketed? answer8 The laptops will be sold to governments and issued to children by schools on a basis of <i>one laptop per child.</i> Initial discussions have been held with China, India, Brazil, Argentina, Egypt, Nigeria, and Thailand. An additional, modest allocation of machines will be used to seed developer communities in a number of other countries. A commercial version of the machine will be explored in parallel. question9 When do you anticipate these laptops reaching the market? What do you see as the biggest hurdles? answer9 Our preliminary schedule is to have units ready for shipment by the end of 2006 or early 2007. Manufacturing will begin when 5 to 10 million machines have been ordered and paid for in advance.<br/><br/>The biggest hurdle will be manufacturing 100 million of anything. This is not just a supply-chain problem, but also a design problem. The scale is daunting, but I find myself amazed at what some companies are proposing to us. It feels as though at least half the problems are being solved by mere resolve. question10 Who is the original design manufacturer (ODM) of the $100 laptop? answer10 Quanta Computer Inc. of Taiwan has been chosen as the original design manufacturer (ODM) for the $100 laptop project. The decision was made after the board reviewed bids from several possible manufacturing companies.<br/><br/>Quanta Computer Inc. was founded in 1988 in Taiwan. With over US $10 billion in sales, Quanta is the world's largest manufacturer of laptop PCs; the company also manufactures mobile phones, LCD TVs, and servers and storage products. In addition, Quanta recently opened a new US $200 million R&D center, Quanta R&D Complex (QRDC), in Taiwan. The facility, which opened in Q3 of 2005, has 2.2 million square feet of floor space, and a capacity to house up to 7,000 engineers. question11 How will this initiative be structured? answer11 The $100 laptop is being developed by One Laptop per Child (OLPC), a Delaware-based, non-profit organization created by faculty members from the MIT Media Lab to design, manufacture, and distribute laptops that are sufficiently inexpensive to provide every child in the world access to knowledge and modern forms of education. OLPC is based on <i>constructionist</i> theories of learning pioneered by Seymour Papert and later Alan Kay, as well as the principles expressed in Nicholas Negroponte's book Being Digital. The founding corporate members are Advanced Micro Devices (AMD), Brightstar, Google, News Corporation, Nortel, and Red Hat.<br/><br/>Nicholas Negroponte is chairman of One Laptop per Child and Mary Lou Jepsen serves as chief technology officer. Other principals involved in developing the $100 Laptop are: Walter Bender, Michail Bletsas, V. Michael Bove, Jr., David Cavallo, Benjamin Mako Hill, Joseph Jacobson, Alan Kay, Tod Machover, Seymour Papert, Mitchel Resnick, and Ted Selker.<br/>Design Continuum is collaborating on the laptop design. date February 2006 milestones MILESTONES people.html 4294967295 press.html 4294967295 license These works are licensed under a Creative Commons License download.html 4294967295 deed _: the Creative Commons license in your language, e.g., deed.pt for Portuguese dccredit Image and illustration credit: imagelabel1 CONCEPT IMAGES clicklarger Click for larger versions. po Download the project PO file <a href="e;olpc.po"e;>here</a>.