Its been more than a year since i first heard about Prof. Negroponte’s fabledHundred-Dollar Laptop. Launched with much fanfare, we still have heard plans, but not seen this computer. In his column over on the MIT Technology Review, Jason Pontin asks, “Can a $100 computer be built? Maybe.”
No Jason, it has been built, by Novatium, an Indian company based in Madras. I write about them in the latest issue of Business 2.0. (Sub-required to read the article!) Admittedly it does not have Negroponte’s star power, making do with home-grown engineering chutzpah. But they have come up with possibly the best solution for their market. And having finished Pontin’s piece, I will only believe Negroponte’s laptop when I see it. And that’s not happening anytime soon.
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7:59 AM PT
[...] Even the people smarter than me are saying this is a good thing. Some others can’t even believe it (Wadda ya think now, Om?). This can’t be real. Please God (I mean the real God) - don’t let it be real. [...]
9:00 AM PT
[...] by Om Malik Friday, September 28, 2007 at 9:00 AM PT | No comments I have been fairly skeptical of the One Laptop Per Child project, not because it’s not a worthy cause, [...]
1 comment so far
6:00 AM PT
Om, did you get to lay hands on the Novatium Nova NetPC? And more importantly, can I? How do I buy one of these things outside India?
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