Computer makers chase '$100 laptop'

The tiny laptops, some roughly the size of a large paperback book, are far too large for most pants pockets, but could easily fit inside a purse. The smaller keyboards may work well for children. Many run on the Linux operating system favored by the technorati but little known among most computer users.

Those that include Microsoft's (MSFT, news, msgs) familiar Windows usually cost a bit more. Microsoft has said it will continue to allow manufacturers to sell its older Windows XP system in the mini-laptops, saving on both cost and system operating requirements over the newer Windows Vista. (Microsoft owns and publishes MSN Money.)

These for-profit ventures follow in the footsteps of the nonprofit One Laptop Per Child (OLPC) project, based in Cambridge, Mass. Many were skeptical when OLPC announced several years ago that it would develop and distribute small laptops to children across the developing world for $100 each.

• MSN Tech & Gadgets: The 10 most important laptops of all time

In recent months several top executives have stepped down from OLPC, leaving some critics to wonder if its mission is still viable.

While OLPC hasn't reached its original aim of $100 PCs, it is selling its tiny laptop, called the XO, for $189, still lower than the for-profit ventures. That price includes some special educational features and software developed by OLPC for the Linux OS.

Nicholas Negroponte, founder and chairman of OLPC, says the XO is already Windows capable and he expects it to include a version of Microsoft's operating system in the future. He hopes new for-profit competition will spur manufacturers to develop better technologies and drive costs even lower.

About 500,000 of the rugged, kid-friendly XO laptops have been ordered so far, with the majority already built and shipped, Negroponte says.

OLPC has seen Intel, which in January withdrew as a partner in the OLPC project, and other computer companies begin to compete for student markets in the developing world. Sometimes these companies are "dumping" their products at low prices to try to shut out OLPC, Negroponte said in late April. "Last week Asus tried that trick in Turkey," he said.

OLPC is a humanitarian effort, not a business, Negroponte says. He likens the OLPC to the World Food Program, which does not try to compete with McDonald's (MCD, news, msgs). "I don't want to compete with anyone," he says.

How low can prices go? OLPC is aiming for a 2.0 version of the XO that will cost only $50, Negroponte says. But don't expect that until late 2010.

Meanwhile Ncomputing in Redwood City, Calif., may be the current price leader for student sales, although its product isn't a laptop. The company's device connects "dumb" terminals to a central computer. That core machine then shares its processing power with each of the networked terminals.

This idea, sometimes called "desktop virtualization," is not new. But what's changed is the mushrooming power of even a single PC. One bottom-of-the-line $350 desktop can now act as a server for a half-dozen or more workstations, at a cost as low as $70 per terminal, says Stephen Dukker, CEO of NComputing. And each student gets his or her own keyboard, mouse and monitor.

Ncomputing has already sold 600,000 of its devices, says Dukker. The largest buyer has been the country of Macedonia, which bought 180,000 units for its schoolchildren. The company also has made sales in Malaysia, Indonesia, India, Brazil and a few African countries.

The "dumb" devices use only about 1 watt of power each, he says, compared with many times that much for PCs. That can be especially important in remote areas where electricity is at a premium.

The costs of maintenance and replacement are lower, too, since repair or replacement of a single computer automatically upgrades or restores all the workstations attached to it.

The workstations can't be taken home by students, as with laptops, but that also means that the school's computers are less likely to be stolen or damaged, Dukker says.

"Our technology represents the beginning of the end of (cost) barriers to access to computing," he says.

This article was reported and written by Gregory M. Lamb for The Christian Science Monitor.

< previous |  1 | 2 |