Computers get cheap. While Microsoft has seen fit to require a whole new generation of computers to run its
latest operating system, a number of manufacturers have started the creation of cheap notebook computers. The list includes the infamous
Palm Foleo, mentioned here previously, and the
OLPC, mentioned pretty much everywhere previously. But also coming soon is the
Asus EEE, a $200-300 notebook running Linux. And Intel's
alternative to the OLPC, the
Classmate PC. Even as the low cost alternatives to standard computer start to come on sale, the prices for traditional laptops dip
ever lower. Can the
digital divide, at least hardware wise, be consigned to the dustbin of history?
posted by zabuni
on Aug 19, 2007 -
86 comments
Sputnik for the digital g-g-g-generation? No, thats probably hyperbole. But despite yankee plans for a
$100 Laptop for Every Kid, those dang Chinese have gone ahead and created a €123 (that's Euros, son) Personal Computer,
the YSR-639.
As a perfect nightmare for Gates, Jobs and Barrett all it runs a version of linux (ok, that was probably everybody's guess) on a processor I had never heard of before: the
Godson CPU. The company espouses an unusual amount of populist rhetoric, the kind that I thought had been eliminated in now-capitalist China, claiming this a computer for all. Basically, they aim to end the Digital Divide--in China, anyway. Check out the video at
CEBITvideo.com (
Google Video. [
VIA]
posted by illovich
on Mar 21, 2006 -
64 comments
