Computing, Hardware, Education
Negroponte Unveils 2nd Generation OLPC Laptop: It’s an E-Book
Wade Roush 5/20/08
I’m “live blogging” from the One Laptop Per Child Foundation’s day-long media event at the MIT Media Lab. The big news is that OLPC founder Nicholas Negrponte has just unveiled the design for the foundation’s second-generation laptop, which isn’t really a laptop at all but a double-screened, fold-up electronic book.
Below are five shots of Negroponte’s presentation taken with my iPhone. [Update 4:15 pm 5/20/08: And below those are three high-resolution images that OLPC sent out to the media after the presentation.]
Negroponte says the cost of this 2nd-generation device, which uses dual-touch screens with 16:9 aspect ratios, will be kept to $75. (Compare that to the $188 cost of the foundation’s current first-generation XO laptop.) Costs will be kept down in part by using screens built for portable DVD players, which are rapidly coming down in price, Negroponte says. “The reason you can have the audacity to do this is that the 16:9 displays on DVD players are so inexpensive that to anticipate them costing $20 each is not out of the question,” he says.
The book-like design of the device “comes from something we’ve learned over the past couple of years—that the book experience is key,” Negroponte said during his presentation this morning. “Some people have asked me why not just give kids cell phones? And in fact there will be 1.2 billion cell phones manufactured this year, and cell phones are of huge consequence in the developing world—but the cell phone is not a learning device. The next generation laptop should be a book.”
Negroponte said the foundation plans to bring out the second-generation device by 2010. By that time, he added, the cost of the original XO Laptop will also have been brought below $100.
Click on the images below to see larger versions.
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UPDATE 4:15 pm 05/20/08
Okay, we’ve got the official high-res versions of three of the XO 2.0 images now. As before, click on the thumbnails below for larger versions.
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Addendum 4:30 pm 5/20/08
I’m back at the office, and wanted to add a few more details.
In a press release issued shortly after Negroponte’s presentation, OLPC said that key goals for the so-called XO-2 computer include the aforementioned $75 price tag; power consumption of 1 watt, reducing the amount of time required for children in unelectrified areas to generate power manually; a smaller footprint (the XO-2 is about half the size of the XO) so that the device is easier to carry to and from school; and an “enhanced book experience” that resembles the right and left pages of a book in vertical format, a laptop in hinged horizontal format, and a flat continuous tablet in flat two-screen format.
The dual touchscreen display is being designed by Pixel Qi, the hardware design firm founded by former OLPC CTO Mary Lou Jepsen.
OLPC also said that a new version of the original XO laptop, called XO-1.5, will be released in the spring of 2009 “with the same design as the first generation but with fewer physical parts and at a lower cost than XO-1.”
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5/20/08 2:05 pm
How much coverage is this thing going to get? Can everyone just pause for a second and instead of saying how “neat” it is ask: A: Is this a useful venture? B. And does this toy ultimately lead to a better educated child?
Seriously, these kids need medicines and clean water and instead they get what amounts to a toy (and to be part of a photo op). Do they learn anything using this device that isn’t done cheaper with old school materials?
Also, there is also a reason for the HUGE cost over runs, missed deadlines, broken partnerships — its a ego play of epic proportions. Let’s see some tougher coverage of this organization and stop giving them a free ride because they are a non-profit.
5/20/08 2:39 pm
I for one am a student and i will purchase this right away since most of the study material we get is in pdf. :)
5/20/08 2:39 pm
Well, fmmodzelewski, there are already several dozen programs in existence to deliver food and medicine to these children. Negroponte is now taking the next step of finding a way to get education materials to these children cheaply. Doing so in electronic format provides many benefits to this end (like not having to ship, or carry several books per child, rather just a single device). It also opens up new learning experiences not found with simple text books like learning by example via video.
Added benefit here is that this type of device isn’t just for poor, third-world countries. I think children in developed countries to greatly benefit from this as well. I think the biggest hurdle is not the hardware, but actually the creation of (and providing access to) a library of USEFUL educational materials for these devices that come royalty/rights free to everyone in the world.
Is it a useful venture? Absolutely.
Does it lead to a better educated child? Considering most of these children wouldn’t have had any education otherwise, the answer has to be absolutely yes.
It’s a cheap-shot and narrow-minded to call this a “toy”. It’s far from it.
And even if you still don’t agree, so what? It’s funded through private donations. Its existence has next to zero impact on you, so why bother?
5/20/08 2:39 pm
the main problem of the third word is education not food or water, the human factor education, technology and access to internet, having that you can create prosperity. don’t give fishes, teach them how to fish instead of be complaining seating on the couch angry because you dont have more news about fancy gadgets
5/20/08 2:59 pm
I was a little worried that the second generation might cut into sales of the first generation device. However, it doesn’t look like this will be the case. Both devices seem to address slightly different needs and it sounds like both will continue to be sold.
5/20/08 3:02 pm
Will this ebook have a keyboard and audio inputs/outputs as well? That would make it useful. Otherwise, if it’s just something that provides an entirely passive experience, it’s hard to see what the real advantage is over books, or even Amazon’s “Kindle”.
5/20/08 3:22 pm
I think fmmodzelewski’s opinion is probably shared by other caring people, but not necessarily those with first-hand experience. Barriers to economic development are interconnected, so dealing with medicines and clean water exclusively until those needs are “solved” will not move the ball forward as much as working on multiple issues simultaneously. Health stats improve a lot with literacy, and $75 won’t buy nearly the number of books that will likely fit on this new device.
5/20/08 3:23 pm
For fmmodzelewski:
http://www.google.com/search?q=malaria
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Water_purification
More information than they would ever have access to otherwise.
But you’re right, we should probably sell them expensive water purification systems and medicines instead of providing access to information on dew collection and disease prevention. There’s a proverb in there, see if you can discover it.
And as to your comment on non-profits being somewhat less time-efficient than more “American” corporations: in this case, absolutely. That was the first mass-market product created by the organization, and it was a very public process from the outset. There is a reason most corporations don’t announce products when they are only ideas on the board. They do this so that false expectations aren’t set, and the consumer isn’t strung along. But we were never intended to be the consumer. Get over it.
What are you suggesting as an improvement?
5/20/08 3:25 pm
I wonder if the screens on the XO-2 are going to be color e-ink or if they are of the same dual-mode used on the XO-1 and invented by Mary-Lou Jepsen.
2010 seems a bit far off. I’d like to see a lower cost, lower power, lower weight ARM based XO laptop sooner then that…
5/20/08 3:37 pm
I think fmmodzelewski’s opinion is not only a valid point, but having first hand knowledge, a not entirely inaccurate one. Basic security, sanitation and healthcare for these people is priority and unfortunately most often left up to governments with their own agenda or foundations where most of the money goes to ‘adminsitrative expenses’ and marketing. Until you’ve *been there* - and *I* have - the idea of one laptop per child making a dent in anything but ideal situations is a romantic notion at best.
5/20/08 5:51 pm
In my own personal experience, I can tell you education will not only remove poverty but can make big difference for whole society around you. I came from not so well family in rural area of Punjab but was good in education and now able to make whole family in very good position. Because of my success, next generation of my village also now doing well. Well done OLPC. You doing a great work for people of third world.
5/20/08 6:25 pm
MArgot Yale: The program isn’t supported by donations. OLPC doesn’t give away laptops. It sells them to third world countries.
Living in a third world country, I’d much rather spend my taxes on building schools and producing learning materials tailored to our specific problems than on toys which will probably end up exchanged for votes.
5/20/08 7:05 pm
Jim said “it’s hard to see what the real advantage is over books, or even Amazon’s “Kindle”.” The main advantage is being able to provide a child with many many books in the space of one. In this it is similar to the “Kindle.” However, Kindle is black and white, kids like colour. Kindle has ‘whispernet’ tech which only works in the US, inflating the cost for outsiders. A $75 e-book reader with colour where one screen can act as a keyboard (as seen above) seems like a great idea to me. I know my son would LOVE to have one of these e-book readers. Especially if publishers start creating colour children’s books for them.
5/20/08 8:34 pm
The best way to deliver medicine to a village in the developing world is for the kids growing up in that village to graduate from school able to attend a university and a medical school. The best way to feed a society is to produce knowledgeable farmers (and grocers who can participate in a global market). This is about long-term solutions.
Will the world be a better place tomorrow because of OLPC? Probably not. Twenty years from now? Absolutely.
5/20/08 9:03 pm
Someone said the biggest problem in the developing world is lack of education rather than access to clean water or health care. All of these are symptoms of the real problem, kleptocratic governments that get in the way of people who otherwise would better their own lives. Zimbabwe and Burma are prime examples.
5/20/08 10:30 pm
Very promising tool for kids.
I hope this device will help them to advance in school and life much faster than without.
5/20/08 11:00 pm
The Global Peace Index has found that education is a major contributing factor to peace in a country. If you give people peace, food and medicines have a much higher chance of happening. Thus indirectly OLPC is feeding the hungry and healing the sick.
5/20/08 11:48 pm
Brilliant. Finally, what I’ve been hoping for since I was about nine years old. I’ve been gaining on it for decades but I didn’t know if I’d ever catch it.
My old Sony Clie SJ30 _will_ last until I can move my reading collection to one of these.
5/21/08 12:41 am
What saddens me the most from this blogpost is the Negroponte quote that “the cell phone is not a learning device.” This may sound like a truism to some but, to me, it actually sounds both myopic and incompatible with the constructionist nature of the project.
A cell phone, an eBook, a textbook, a pencil, a portable media player, a twig… None of these is truly a learning device but all of them can be used in learning. Especially if we use a constructionist (hands-on and guide) approach to learning, inspired by constructivist perspectives on knowledge.
5/21/08 3:12 am
its not just an e-book, its a dual touch screen computer that can be used as an e-book. Don’t you people read articles / look at pictures? Do you just read the headline and make silly statements? So its much more than a kindle, but it aint e-ink unfortunately, so it will use more power look worse but will be a fraction of the price.
5/21/08 3:43 am
I still wonder how this is going to work out here in africa. The moment there is a price tag on the item it is a liability to carry it with you. Feel free to read up on how safe you are when you carry a cell phone with you. So what I am saying is that there is a clear problem with values which have to be addressed even before you can start educating the people here with technology. Thanks for trying though - but this project aims at the wrong target at the moment.
5/21/08 5:53 am
I have to agree with Johan.I’m from South Africa (the no 1 country in Africa) and we are a long way from being able to use the XO.Crime rates in SA will see XO’s being either stolen or sold at an exorbitant price to only the fortunate by some greedy politician and his friends.Before looking at spreading XO’s all over 3rd world countries.Perhaps Negroponte should look at attempting to solve the real issue in 3rd world countries, which is crime and 0 political process.Without those the 1st world dream of education and medicine will not flourish.
5/21/08 7:18 am
Just a little confused on this release. I read a few days ago that the XO notebook was getting re-fitted with a copy of XP rather than Sugar OS. Personally, not a big fan of the decision, however reasons such as development time for tools were the consideration, over investing time on UI design. (although I hope the tech is big enough to also support Norton… or some such. The mental image of thousands of 3rd world children writing thousands of viruses that run off the roam the mesh reducing every XO to an expensive paperweight is somehow really amusing)
So, is OPLC going to ship with Microsoft (XP I assume. The Vista footprint would be too massive. Ooh. Vista…. BuuurrrrnnnN!) or another variation on Sugar?
5/21/08 8:33 am
I am disabled and I would like to have an Ebook so I could read while laying down in my bed. I seldom have enough strength to hold a hardcover book and I a can’t afford the newer paper backs.
Where can I purchase one?
5/21/08 8:42 am
Alexandre said “What saddens me the most from this blogpost is the Negroponte quote that “the cell phone is not a learning device.””.
Actually, I thought the whole children living in poverty thing was kind of sad too.
5/21/08 10:03 am
In response to William’s comments “the main problem of the third word is education not food or water.” WIlliam with all do respect, lay off the crack. More than half the deaths among the young in the developing world are from water borne illnesses. Knowing multiplication won’t stop a parasite from killing a 7 year old in many parts of Africa How many must die before change takes root due via education?
I am not, by my comments being a hater. I am just asking that instead of deifying the project someone actually ask tough questions.
Why are so many of you so afraid of inquiry? You are all so liberal and open minded and support education, why can’t questions be asked as to is this program a good idea and is it effectively managed?
It is frankly gross bias on the part of many of this projects supporters that very well may be creating blind spots to exist that may doom this effort rather than make this –and many other programs for the developing world –more effective. Frankly I can’t help but see an insufferable academic superiority complex in effect that doesn’t allow many of you to even believe this could be less than a great idea.
5/21/08 10:39 am
I am also curious about Windows XP. It seems that free software (Sugar OS) versus paid for software (XP or Vista) is a better choice for developing communities.
When the children wish to upgrade, how will they afford the software? The hardware costs alone are staggering, but then you add additional cost of software…..
5/21/08 10:48 am
They need more then food, water, and medicine they need to understand that they are starving to death because their government has sold the natural resources of their country to foreign interest and the U.N. is using it’s stated “food as a weapon” strategy to reduce global population. The Renascence of the Information age is the eye opener these 3rd world human need to empower them to control there destiny. Do you want them to just sit in the dirt with a bowl of rice waiting for the “New World Order” to send some black masked or blue helmeted assassin police over to reduce the excess population? Networking and sharing ideas is one of the strongest ways to fight the NWO. The OLPC/Linux is great technology to assist fighting the global slavery problem.
5/21/08 10:50 am
The U.N. will reach its goal of 80% population reduction with or without the OLPC, who is kidding who?
5/21/08 11:59 am
This device is not intended to be a cure-all for the problems of struggling countries. These countries need changes and assistance on many levels: government, infrastructure, policy, health, education, etc.
I see this device as a good way to introduce computing to young people. Whether it be in the USA, UK, or anywhere else in the world, a cheap computing device that appeals to children and that contains educational material is a good thing.
I also agree with Fmmodzelewski that it’s always good to challenge and question the effectiveness of technology in education. Having a computer doesn’t make you smarter or more intelligent or solve any societal problems. Having knowledge and access to resources empowers people to make their lives better. If this device, along with content, and an educational system that leverages it can help, then it’s a good idea.
5/21/08 12:46 pm
I find a lot of these *ideas* to be great in theory but when the practicality of it comes to the fore we realise just how woefully inadequate it really is.
One of the most important things to take into consideration here has been totally overlooked. Where would any of the kids in a 3rd world country, who I might add walk 10-15 kilometers a day just to get water, find a repair centre when this little baby stops working?
Education IS what is needed in Africa - I’m African myself so I really do understand and get this - but it needs to be tackled in a way that will actually benefit the children who are the intended audience.
I’m not saying don’t do this, what I am saying is that there is a long way to go before something like this will actually make a difference to a malnourished African child.
Not even looking at food and sustenance, or politics, or even the maintenance of the equipment, but the very distances that some of these kids have to go just to get to a school to learn in the first place, make these ideas that much harder to put into practice.
We all have to let go of the 1st world view of life that we have - our comfortable homes and our running water - to TRULY see what it is to live life in the 3rd world.
I do hope very much that OLPC carries on with what they’re doing and manage to overcome what will be very large barriers.
5/21/08 3:21 pm
ARGH.
I’m so tired of the same old, poorly thought out criticisms of the OLPC. You just don’t get it. These people are not making a choice between “a toy” or food and medicine. These computers are for children who go to school but cannot afford to buy $200 worth of books every other year. Yes. that’s right. Most students have to buy their own books. Why spend $200 on a book that you will use for one year when you can spend $75 on a computer and then a whole school can share a PDF for $10 at total cost to the school?
5/21/08 10:43 pm
This is way cool.
It would be cooler if they had a version that used e-paper (instead of lcd screens).
This would drastically improve battery life and reduce strain on the eyes - a big reason why many people prefer printouts.
The disadvantage would be that e-paper would probably be black and white, but there are a lot of applications (not necessarily to do with poor children) where such a device would be apt and would save a *lot* of paper and electricity.
Th Kindle comes close but is clunky, expensive and US specific.
If they make an e-paper version available for about $100-$200 they would have a commercial hit which saves the environment and may help finance more initiatives for needy children.
5/21/08 11:32 pm
Let’s use the XO and other channels to teach everyone the basics of civilization:
The Two Laws:
1) Do not encroach on other persons or their property.
2) Do what you have agreed to do.
5/27/08 12:30 am
Hi,
I love the idea idealistically but would like to have real feedback on the success of the 1st OLPC completely wrong. You must be able to read to use it and read in English - besides. I could not get the interface. I also thought it was for children of developing countries - do they speak English? Does a child in Kenya understand the same logo as a child in the US? How was the concept tested?
Irrigation ideas are provided by an innovative NGO in that area IDE leaded by Paul Polack.
Nary
6/25/08 10:56 pm
Jim-
I think it doesn’t need a keyboard; one of the photos shows the child typing on one of the screens. I’m envisioning a screen reminiscent of the iPhone, only it will work well.