Predecessors of OLPC

The OLPC is not entirely new. Like most developments in our modern world, it is built on what has come before. This page is intended to list some of the predecessors of the OLPC or key parts of its technology. We won't be mentioning mainstream stuff like laptops here, but things that are less well-known but which can teach us lessons as the OLPC design evolves.

• Dynabook was Alan Kay's vision of a book-sized portable learning device.
• LOGO is a programming language developed by Seymour Papert in order to teach kids how to control robots called turtles.
• various Minimal Linux distros have been developed in order to use Linux on machines with limited memory and storage.
• Cybiko was a wireless messaging device for kids that was sold in the USA and UK for several years.
• Ricochet is a wireless mesh network that was deployed throughout San Francisco and the Bay Area in 1997. I remember that it reached our offices in Redwood City. This is not wi-fi.
• Apple's E-mate was a laptop version of their Newton and was intended to be a child's personal computer. They are still available on Ebay.
• Simputer is a handheld computer originating in India with some similiar ideas
• Ndiyo Nivo is a "ultra-thin-client hardware" - not a laptop, but another idea on cost reduction (maybe a "thin" OLPC along such lines could of interest in future iterations?)
• AlphaSmart is a widescreen Palm-based laptop intended to be given to every child in a class.