An Update About One Laptop

In a report last night on 60 Minutes by Lesley Stahl, we saw first hand the reaction that children in Cambodia get when receiving their One Laptop Per Child. MIT Professor Nicholas Negroponte says that the ~$160.00 “school in a box” is water, dirt, and sandproof, and can be viewed outside in bright light. Children can be taught to draw on it, compose music, and research in as little as ten minutes, even by another child. Run by wifi, it comes with a recharging crank when the 10 to 12 hour batteries run down.

Negroponte is hoping that some countries will commit to the OLPC by installing the required satellite dishes, but fears that Intel’s Classmate, among other companies’ products, may be enough competition that he will fall short of his 1 billion distribution goal. He says that in Pakistan and Nigeria alone, about 50% of children are not in school and could benefit most from the program. When asked if kids in the U.S. would have access to the laptops, he replied that they certainly could if the parents purchased one for them and one for a child overseas. We think it’s still a pretty nifty deal.

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