Three years ago the idea of a sub $100 notebook appeared dramatic, something that would be almost impossible for the industry to achieve, something that could only be delivered by a special movement and a new ways of thinking.
Today there are several laptops on the market for around the $200-$300 dollar mark, running a choice of operating systems and offering a choice of configurations. People declared interest in a cheap laptop, and market forces did their thing and delivered.
cNet’s Crave has a story posted today about a $98 laptop, using a MIPS processor and running Linux in just 64Mb of RAM, the HiVision NB0700.
But for those comfortable with the Linux operating system, the HiVision machine offers a feature set competent enough to handle most productivity needs. The NB0700 comes with 64MB RAM, Wi-Fi radio, Ethernet, three USB ports, 1GB flash storage and even an SDHC card slot. The 7-inch screen is nothing to shout about, though for this price, we kind of expect it. The unit should be in available in Mainland China from October, though it remains to be seen if it will be launched elsewhere in the world.
Given the evolution that we have seen in devices around the $200-$300 dollar range over the last two years this machine should give us a clear picture of what will be available on the market twelve to twenty four months from now, depending upon end user interest and take up of such a device.
Of course the new movements and the new ways of thinking paved the way for the innovation that we have seen over the last two years, and will see over the coming years, but at the end of the day it is market forces in the form of customer demand, competition between components and devices, and entrepreneurial dynamics that eventually deliver devices like this to the masses at the right price.
Market forces are clever things… wouldn’t you agree?
In December 2003 I was at the World Summit on the Information Society in Geneva. The only pragmatic project was the OLPC. So the whole idea is a bit older.
People declared interest in a cheap laptop, and market forces did their thing and delivered.
The availability of the new class of products has a lot to do with technology advancement and the usual decrease of price. A notebook from 2003 would also be around 100$.
Where are the market forces that make available to these users XP? That is not about market forces but corporate policy. Not to mention that the OS sales share also decreases as alternatives hit the market.
As of the OLPC Bill Gates got it right:”…geez, get a decent computer where you can actually read the text and you’re not sitting there cranking the thing while you’re trying to type.”
The OLPC was the visionary change agent. A footnote and a flawed concept.
Yes, I was there too, and at the follow up in Tunisia when NN was carrying around his plywood mock up of the OLPC v1.
Today, it isn’t all that hard to find a device with XP on it around a similar price point… there are plenty of options here in Singapore, Sim Lim Sq or Funan Mall both give me a handful of devices to choose from.
My wife carries an eePC 900 (901, or something, can’t rightly remember) when we go on vacation, it only cost us a few hundred dollars, came with a Microsoft OS and does a great job for blogging and email while we’re on the road.
The devices are out there, and two years from now this will be a pretty pointless debate. Now might be a good time to start spending more cycles thinking about the application of such devices.