Apparently based on an interview with Nicholas Negroponte of MIT Media Lab, here is the cost breakdown for the main parts of the $100 Third World laptop.
It’s from the Indiatimes, which also says people’s keystrokes might be enough to power the machine–something that will be awesome if it can actually happen. And, yes, in the article, Indiatimes mentions the laptop as a p-book replacement. But first the cost breakdown:
The $100 laptop is expected to cut down the cost as follows:
Display: About $30. The 12-inch screen could display an image from a built-in digital projector, or could use newly developed “electronic ink,” whose pixels turn black or white depending on electrical charge.
Processing and storage: About $30. Advanced Micro Devices Inc, a partner in the project, would supply $10 processors. Hard-drive storage would cost another $10 and flash memory another $10.
Other components: $30. About $5 for the battery, $5 for the keyboard and a total $20 for the module, electrical plugs, USB ports and other items.
Software: Free. The computers would use Linux open source software.
Let’s hope the cost can be $100. Just keep in mind the production and distribution costs and others. Perhaps a more likely figure will be $150, still an accomplishment.
The Times notes that “bridging the digital divide between the rich and poor countries is not just about making a cheap product; it is also about making it usable in areas that have unstable electricity supplies, poor transport systems, and a few trained computer technicians. It means that for kids in villages that don’t have electricity, the nighttime darkness will be pierced by the glow from laptops.”
Overall specs: “The $100 laptop will do everything a conventional laptop can. It will have a 12-inch, colour screen and run Linux and other open source software. It will be Wi-Fi and 3G-enabled, with many USB ports. The laptops will not have storage space, and will not be hooked up via a conventional local area networks, but will rely on mesh networks, where one child’s laptop will act as the print server, one the DVD player, and another the mass storage device. Its current specifications are: 500MHz, 1GB, 1Megapixel.”
Neat wrinkles: “To get over the power hurdle, the MIT team is looking into what it calls “parasitic power”–powering a laptop just by typing on the keys. The laptop will also be extremely robust almost military grade and will be simple enough so that a child can repair it.”
Hmm. What about sustained Web browsing without much typing to recharge a batter? Will pedal power be used? “Mouse” power as well? Also, I hope that the keys will not require too much extra pressure as a result of the power arrangement. I wonder if the Indiatimes get everything right.
The ebook angle: Reportedly “getting information online saves the cost of printing textbooks and this is a case where what is cheaper is also better. A much bigger saving is the cost of the books that every student should have been given but only rich families could afford. The computer can serve as a library, a laboratory and an art studio, saving the cost of these or making those that exist far more effective.”
(Indiatimes link found via Taran Rampersad, a member of the Digital Divide Network.)
