Every Kid Gets a Computer
We've been talking for some time now about the advent of a computer for third world kids. Slowly, the talk is turning into a reality. Negroponte reports (Negroponte, 81) that "1.4 million children in 35 countries" speaking "25 languages" are using the original $100 computer (which actually cost $175), the XO from One Laptop per Child. That circuit board had lots of pieces, maybe 900 or so. The goal? A circuit board with "only one chip" (Negroponte, 81). That's all. One chip. And, oh, the computer actually costs $100 this time around, hopefully.
Who cares? First generation XO's go home with their owners. Kids sleep with their computers. They're learning like never before. All 1.4 million of them. Think about that number. 1.4 million is a lot. And yet it is nothing when you consider how many kids there are in Africa. Or South America. Or Santa Ana. We have a way to go yet.
But that's the good thing. There are opportunities here. The XO sparked all sorts of things, from cheap screens to cheap electronics to small computers to wider band width to more kids sleeping with their computers. This next chapter will do the same thing. The next version XO won't be a laptop, it'll be a tablet (Negroponte, 81). You're thinking, "Apple already did that, so what?" Think again. A one chip tablet isn't going to be given to 1.4 million kids. I'll bet 140 million get one. Think about that. Negroponte got beat up last time around because the price wouldn't go down fast enough, because Intel jumped in and created a cheap chip of their own (the Atom, in all those netbooks out there), and because Asus said, "We'll move from chips to computers" and started to make a good competitor to the XO. Big deal. Yes, big deal. Negroponte pointed out a need, started down the production path, got beat up, sparked a new industry, kept going, and still has a vision for more change. He's one guy.
How come your design team isn't acting like that? "Oh, they're too busy," you say. Really? Have another look.
Reference
Negroponte, Nicholas. The Next $100 Laptop. Wired. April 2010. 81.