Hack: The Hundred-Dollar Laptop
Founded by members of MIT’s Media Lab and led by its chairman emeritus Nicholas Negroponte, One Laptop per Child (OLPC) is working with industry to design and produce an inexpensive and durable laptop to be distributed to children in poor countries. The laptop is meant both to display many years’ worth of textbooks and to connect communities wirelessly with the rest of the world. From its custom-designed, power-saving chips and displays to its built-from-scratch Linux-based operating system, the Hundred-Dollar Laptop (HDL) is a study in economy. India’s secretary of education icily dismissed the laptop this summer, but Thailand will test 500 units late this year, with an eye to buying one million. Argentina, Brazil, and Nigeria have also shown interest. Click here for our hack of the hundred-dollar laptop.
Keep Reading
Most Popular
Geoffrey Hinton tells us why he’s now scared of the tech he helped build
“I have suddenly switched my views on whether these things are going to be more intelligent than us.”
Deep learning pioneer Geoffrey Hinton has quit Google
Hinton will be speaking at EmTech Digital on Wednesday.
Video: Geoffrey Hinton talks about the “existential threat” of AI
Watch Hinton speak with Will Douglas Heaven, MIT Technology Review’s senior editor for AI, at EmTech Digital.
Doctors have performed brain surgery on a fetus in one of the first operations of its kind
A baby girl who developed a life-threatening brain condition was successfully treated before she was born—and is now a healthy seven-week-old.
Stay connected
Get the latest updates from
MIT Technology Review
Discover special offers, top stories, upcoming events, and more.