20 May 2008

XO laptop redesign: Pics!

One Laptop per Child designer Yves Behar (watch his TEDTalk) shares exciting news about the top-to-bottom redesign of the XO laptop -- sometimes called the "$100 laptop." He writes:

With the XO (1.0), we pushed the boundaries of what a laptop could be by lowering the cost dramatically, being green (no heavy metals, lowest energy consumption ever), and a human-driven unique design approach.

Now, with XOXO (2.0), we are challenging what a truly collaborative and creative computing experience could be ... a true departure from the traditional keyboard and screen layout, a new way to interface and play with data, information and communication:

- imagine if your learning machine was an un-interrupted screen one could interface with from any direction

- imagine if it was a reading experience just like a book, and at the same time a seamless large visual tablet

- imagine if children could play board games sitting across from each other (or computer games).

The XOXO is a book, a tablet, a board...and yes, a laptop too if that is what you need. The design is still green and white, but thin, simple, and un-interrupted by keyboards, buttons, speaker holes, input devices and visible connectors. And it is soft to the touch, like a piece of luggage, everyday luggage you can take anywhere.

Planned for early 2010, the XOXO should be the next learning object of desire, from Bogota, to Istanbul, to New York.

Technorati tags: $100 laptop, Nicholas Negroponte, One Laptop per Child, Yves Behar

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DJ Adams – July 6 2008

I really like the new design concepts of the OLPC computer. I think it should be made available to everybody. An additional 50% charge could be added to the price for those buying it outside the current parameters, and the additional charge could be directed toward the purchases for the needy. A combination of two of the additional charges would add up to a free unit for someone that couldn't afford it.
David Lockman – May 22 2008

This is the most imaginative design I've seen in a long time. Functionally flexible, durable, and just gorgeous. I'm hoping this will lead to some new ideas for laptops here in the industrialized world.

Any other issues aside, Negroponte's goal - getting laptops into the hands of children in developing nations - is very worthwhile, and we support it completely. Human development has always been about using our brains to make life better for as many people as possible.

As our CEO, Mark Alan Effinger, has noted before, the ThoughtOffice team and RichContent folks are at your service.

David Lockman
Product Specialist
http://www.ThoughtOffice.com
Don Barry – May 21 2008

Even worse -- pretending a commitment to a free software/free content educational philosophy to get community participation and then revealing it was all a sham to build credibility and leverage for Negroponte. This stab in the back should not be soon forgotten by the community.
Padraic Ryan – May 20 2008

Let's not forget the most important part of the redisgn: OLPC forsaking its commitment to free software and installing Windows.