Picture this: an elegant portable electronic device with dual touchscreens that can be transformed into virtual keyboards, a hinge to allow it to be used horizontally or vertically (like an electronic book), that is extremely energy efficient (running on just one Watt!). Sounds cool, right? Well, you’re looking at it. It’s the XO-2, representing the next generation of Cambridge, MA-based One Laptop Per Child’s (OLPC) XO laptop for children in the developing world, with a proposed launch date of 2010. Why did the organization decide to announce it so early? According to founder Nicholas Negroponte, formerly of MIT’s Media Lab, it was to essentially stimulate the market, in the hope that it might actually be copied by other companies, so as to bring costs down, as well as widen the effort in general, to introduce the latest technologies to educational programs in developing countries throughout the world .
Following the introduction begun last year, of the XO into countries including Peru, Uruguay, Mongolia, Haiti, Rwanda, Mexico, Cambodia, Ethiopia, Ghana, Iraq, Afghanistan, and even the US and Canada, OLPC determined that it had to redesign the device and lower its price (to $75, if possible), in order to make it even more accessible for young children. If the proposed enhancements indeed come to fruition, the XO-2 will certainly have a lot going for it, with the added benefit that it may aid the design and development of super efficient electronics for the developed world as well, especially in light of our ever strained electrical grid. While you wait for this impressive device to hit the market, OLPC will reintroduce their laptop donation program later this Fall, in case you are interested in supporting their efforts.
For further information, please visit OLPC Wiki for updates and information on how the project is proceeding.
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