For $150, Third-World Laptop Stirs a Big Debate

[Evan Leibovitch]

Rick Tomaschuk wrote:
> North America has so many 'obsolete' computers it seems a waste to send them to China, etc. to be broken down for scrap when they could be used
> in developing countries. $150 laptop??? How about an obsolete PIII for $25.00 running Linux and a $10.00 obsolete monitor.
Add the cost to pack and ship that large, heavy PC and bulky, fragile
monitor (for which the original packaging almost certainly doesn't
exist), and the price balloons pretty quickly.

> many of the people in non-war torn countries are quite content not to have a McDonalds at every third street corner. They value their way of life.
And yet ... there they are, buying Big Macs. Funny about the marketplace
that way... if people truly didn't want the stuff they (supposedly)
complain about, they wouldn't buy it and it would go away.

So now Thais eat at KFC, and dozens of North York restaurants offer Tom
Yum Soup. Get over it.

> its business people who convince their politicians to buy into the North American tread mill way of life.
>   
You mean, like convincing them that taking the rich world's castoff PCs
is a better idea than computers designed specifically for their needs?

The OLPC draws less than five watts per hour, a small fraction of what a
conventional laptop requires (let alone a big PC and screen). It can
thus be self-powered (the hand crank and foot pedal were rejected in
favour of something resembling a salad spinner). Its power and network
systems were designed for areas without much existing electrical or
communucations infrastructure. And it can probably tolerate drops and
spills better than your average laptop.

- Evan

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