July 23, 2007
GIVEN THE 100% MARKUP, THAT'LL FALL QUICKLY:
Nonprofit may launch $350 laptop by Christmas (Jim Finkle, 7/23/07, Reuters)
A nonprofit group that designs low-cost computers for poor children may start selling $350 laptops on the commercial market by Christmas, an executive said on Monday.Posted by Orrin Judd at July 23, 2007 9:20 PM
Dell will be selling a $350 laptop by Christmas.
Posted by: Ibid at July 23, 2007 9:52 PMPoor children have $350 for a laptop! Poverty just ain't what it used to be.
Posted by: erp at July 24, 2007 8:01 AMYet another story that misses the point; the OLPC laptops aren't aimed at the poor poor, but at developing countries.
And $350 would be the retail price in the commercial market; big government buyers (eg, Brazil) will be paying wholesale, under $200 a unit. It'll be interesting to see how Microsoft responds; the OLPC uses a customized Linux, and even the lowest price for W2K3 will be ugly on a laptop this small (assuming it could run Windows at all).
Posted by: Mike Earl at July 24, 2007 9:24 AMRead a humorous story a year or so ago (was it here or somewhere else?) about one of those $10 laptop NGO groups who had a fancy webpage telling about all the great things some African villagers were using their ultra-cheap laptops for--such as providing light for their hut. The punchline was that perhaps said villagers have a few higher priorities than getting a laptop computer...
Posted by: b at July 24, 2007 12:28 PMb. Are the laptop batteries solar powered?
Posted by: erp at July 25, 2007 1:29 PM