Chip maker Intel has decided to take an active roll and support the One Laptop Per Child (OLPC) foundation that it once dismissed as a gadget. The foundation founded by Nicholas Negroponte, of MIT Media lab fame, has developed a laptop which was designed to be cheap to make, energy efficient and built to withstand rugged conditions. "It can be hand-powered so it will work in remote locations." Negroponte said in an interview "Collaboration with Intel means that the maximum number of laptops will reach children," The machine which uses free and open source software and has other corporate backers, is meant to be offered in South America, Africa, and parts of Asia where children would otherwise not be exposed to the technology. They require 3,000,000 orders to make the foundations production plan work. 7000 prototypes have been tested and the price is expected to be about $175 US. CBC story here.
A noble cause indeed!
A noble cause indeed!
