$200 laptop with LINUX for kids and adolescents.
February 22nd 2008 02:32
A new laptop computer for just 99 pounds — about $200
British company Elonex is launching the country's first sub-100-pound computer later this month and hopes to be making 200,000 of them by the summer.
It will be aimed at schoolchildren and teenagers, and looks set to throw the market for budget laptops wide open.
Called the One, it can be used as a traditional notebook computer or, with the screen detached from the keyboard, as a portable "tablet"
Wi-Fi technology lets users access the Internet or swap music (and homework) files between computers wirelessly.
Personal files can be stored on the laptop's 1GB of built-in memory or on a tough digital wristband (1 to 8GB, starting at about $20) that children can plug into the USB socket of whichever computer they happen to be using, be it the One, a PC at school or their parents' laptop.
The secret is simple: open-source software.
The One runs on Linux, which is a rival to Windows but completely free to use. Open-source software can be freely swapped or modified by anyone who wants it.
It includes a free word processor and spreadsheet, a free Web browser and free e-mail software.
It has a 7-inch screen, a rubbery little keyboard and no CD drive. And it all runs on an aging chip that was designed before its target audience of seven-year-olds was even born.
The screen is bright and the software package impressively varied (if rather sluggish) on this prototype.
Preloaded programs range from instant-messaging software and a photo editor to games and an MP3 player.
Moving files to and from the USB wristband was easy enough — and there's a Bluetooth version with 2 GB of memory ($250) that lets you swap files with mobile phones too.
Elonex is targeting schools as potential buyers.
The Elonex One isn't the only low-cost educational laptop.
Asus launched an open-source laptop in the run-up to this past Christmas. The Eee PC (about $400) has proved popular with adults as well as children.
The One Laptop per Child initiative, which began in America, hopes to offer a "Give one, get one" event this year in Britain, where consumers can buy two computers — one for themselves and one for a child abroad — for about $400.
But open-source software has its problems. If no one owns it, there's no one to complain to when things go wrong — and the One has no antivirus or firewall software built in.
Of course, in the context of laptops costing more than $2,000 — and even copies of Microsoft Office software retailing at as much as $250 — paying $200 for a fully functional, Internet-ready laptop packed with software isn't a huge risk to take.
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