I've said this before - computing and communications technology is rapidly approaching a price point where it is virtually free. The laptop computer that MIT's Media Lab is designing with support from Google, Red Hat (Linux) and AMD is a case in point. From Search Engine Journal:
MIT’s plans for a $100 durable laptop to be distributed to the children of the world were announced today with pictures of the laptops and the distribution plan. Nicholas Negroponte, chairman and co-founder of the MIT’s Media Lab, confirmed that five countries are already putting plans in place to distribute as many as 15 million of the devices.
Those target countries are Brazil, China, Egypt, South Africa and Thailand.
Running Open Source software, this robust little unit is designed for use in the harshest environments and features a hand cranked battery charger for those places where power is not available. For more design details, check out the MIT page here.
