Guru plans PC for under $100
8 February 2005
The chairman and founder of MIT's Media Labs has announced that he is currently developing a new laptop PC that will retail for less than $100 (£53).
He told the BBC World Service programme Go Digital that he hoped the new computer would become an education tool in developing countries.
Nicholas Negroponte said the stripped down laptop, which will run a Linux-based operating system, could be used as a text book. He suggested that the device would probably be exported in segments and assembled locally to keep costs down.
"We have to get the display down to below $20, to do this we need to rear project the image rather than using an ordinary flat panel," he explained.
"The second trick is to get rid of the fat , if you can skinny it down you can gain speed and the ability to use smaller processors and slower memory."
Mr Negroponte has stressed that the PC is a not for profit venture, though the manufacturers of components will profit from the venture. The concept is based on experiments in the US state of Maine and Cambodia, where children were given laptop computers to take home and do their work on.
The technology mogul plans to start distributing the laptops by the end of 2006 and is already in discussion with the Chinese education ministry about a large order.
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