stedavies.com - communications consultant

Last year I commented on the Economist’s yearly stargaze in to the new year – aptly titled ‘The World in 2006‘. (The 2007 version is out now and it’s a good read). In it there was a piece from the chairman and co-founder of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology Media Lab, Nicholas Negroponte, who is pioneering a programme to introduce $100 (£55) laptops which will be sold to governments and distributed to children in underdeveloped countries.

The Economist may have been a little early with its prediction for the laptop in 2006 but chances are we’ll be seeing it in early 2007 – February in fact. The BBC is reporting that test machines are expecting to reach children by next month as the project builds to a more formal launch.

The operating system runs on a scaled down version of Linux and instead of a hard drive it will have a flash memory. After looking up more information while writing this post, Wikipedia tells me that the project has been renamed from the $100 Laptop to the Children’s Machine. Probably because Negroponte claims the price won’t get to $100 until 2008.

I think this is a very admirable idea and will make a huge difference to children in these poor countries. The internet should be available to all (particularly kids) no matter of demographics. Without stating all the benefits of the internet – there are many but I’m sure you’ve heard them many times before – something like this could really make a difference to those in far worse positions than ourselves. Free knowledge and open communication has got to be a good thing right?

Although the project has received some criticism it’s something I’m looking forward to seeing and hearing about in the coming months.