Case design
The Case
Longevity
The more rugged and "fixable" using local materials that the case and parts are, the more chance that the $100 laptop could be a laptop for life, or passed on to the next generation for use. Total cost of ownership should be kept to $100 - not just the initial outlay. It also might allow people to customise the object and so integrate it socially through creative endevaours (rather than have a pre-packaged 'consumable' solution).
Customizable while still remaining standardized; if one child's laptop breaks, they should be able to easily take out their hard drive and swap it into a neighbor's computer to recover & complete their work (all 225 underclassmen at my college have the same laptop, which makes it easy for IT to help us and a lifesaver when your system board fries the week of finals). Over time (especially if these are rugged and will last for years), I hope the components from different versions will still be compatible with each other in this way. --user:mchua
Point of failure concern: Consider a form factor that does not have a single point connection between the 'base' and the screen. The pivot point that the display 'twists' on in some of the mockups is ripe for a point of failure. If the need for an externally facing display is required (for tablet-style interactions) consider a 'fold-over' design that puts the display and the keyboard back to back. --RossOlson
Point of failure concern: Use of laptop as table could damage the screen. Case should needs extra durability like toy plastic to allow child rough housing.--hckhckhck
Should food grade plastic be used?
I have had the thought that it would be a good idea for the case of the laptop to be moulded in food grade plastic. I cannot entirely justify that suggestion on scientific grounds, it is more aesthetic grounds, though one cannot rule out the possibility that some child somewhere will place his or her food on top of the closed laptop and use the case as a table for sandwiches or the like. However, I feel that it would be good for the case to be moulded from food grade plastic if that is possible.
William Overington
19 March 2006
Is food grade plastic necessary? I've eaten sandwiches & cereal off my laptop case with no trouble, and as long as the kids aren't storing hot chili on top of it for weeks at a time, I think it should be fine, even if a baby were to chew on the corner of the case for a while. They shouldn't be using these as food containers anyhow, since they've got to open the case to work, presumably (and they'll have bowls and such around before they get these laptops). But I did talk to one of my friends who's a matsci major, so here's a list of some common food-grade plastics and how they'd work. Her name is Beth Sterling, and she's willing to talk to folks about this if people want to talk about case materials (polymers & metals are her specialties). Email elizabeth dot sterling _ at _ students dot olin.edu, or talk to me and I'll get you in touch. user:mchua
Food grade plastic options
* PETE - what water bottles are made from. Way too soft. * polypropylene - what milk jugs are made from. Way too soft. * polyethylene, both high and low density - what plastic takeout containters are made from. Way too soft, and scratches really easily. * polystyrene - what disposable drinking cups are made from. Brittle; if you've ever been at a party and accidentally squeezed your glass too hard, you know it splits and shatters. * polycarbonate - lexan is one example. It's impact resistant but can crack if it falls, but is rigid, machinable, and costs as much as aluminum by weight (according to Callister)
update - found this page on food grade plastics, looks like we covered most everything here. --mchua
Thank you for taking the time to consider this matter.
The referenced document is interesting.
It includes the following.
quote
- 5 PP (polypropylene): used in rigid containers, including some baby bottles, and some cups and bowls.
end quote
This seems at variance with the statement about polypropylene above.
quote
- polypropylene - what milk jugs are made from. Way too soft.
end quote
It may be the case that there are various hardness grades of polypropylene and it may be that some polypropylene is food-grade and some is not, depending upon what is in it, such as colouring.
However, an answer to the question about whether food-grade plastic is to be used for the case in one of the FAQ documents has appeared and the answer to the question has been stated as No.
William Overington
2006-05-06 0730Z
Other case material options
* aluminum - light, cheap, durable; Beth suggests 6061. * sheet metal - high-carbon steel, either 1020 or 1040. It's even cheaper, rigid, impact-resistant, strong, and really easy to machine (stamp & bend and you've got yourself a case).
Could food grade plastic have the necessary rigidity for a case?
How much would using food grade plastic add to the cost of the case?
The colour of the case
If the laptop is sold to individuals in developed countries at a somewhat higher cost than $100, would it be a good idea to have the cases moulded in a colour different from the $100 laptops?
For example, maybe a college might buy some for an open access computer room and they would all be one colour and that colour would not be available on the open market for students, so students could easily take their own machines into and out of the computer room with it being entirely clear which laptops were the property of the college and which were not.
Maybe it would be possible to purchase a laptop with a case personalized by being made up of parts in several colours.
There is a webspace with a lot about colour. http://www.pantone.com
Maybe a laptop in Baja Blue with an Art Deco look? William Overington 19 March 2006
The Theft Problem
There is a serious theft problem that must be addressed if this laptop is to be made available in developed countries and that includes many of the orange countries on the map. As long as the laptop is distributed to children only, there will be no adult market for the laptop. In other words, there will be no motivation for adults to steal these laptops from children for their own use.
It is good that these laptops look like toys and are available in distinctive bright colors.
I think that the project leaders need to make a statement on adult availability including the "three for one" pledge that was recently published on Slashdot.
If there is to be any distribution to adults, it should be in a different physical form factor from the one distributed to children. For distribution to developers, it could be in a desktop form factor that runs off mains power, i.e. non-folding ugly functional plastic case. If there is to be a model distributed to adults in the target countries then it should be made in a more traditional dull laptop color and it should have a wifi system that works on DIFFERENT frequencies and with some kind of an incompatibility in the protocol. Adults should not be able to eavesdrop on the kids, pretend to be kids, or send kids inappropriate materials.
This is a serious topic which really needs its own page.
The possibility of a red laptop
I think that the colour of these laptops should be Red in whatever shade. Red is the natural color to provoke a sense of caution, caution to be taken by anyone who works with the laptops or tries to take one. Post office boxes and Phone Boxes in the UK arnt red by accident!
- Some readers may not be familiar with the traditional United Kingdom letter boxes and telephone boxes.
- The model often found in villages is the Kiosk No.6 and the Kiosk No.6 Mk.II and is what is regarded as the typical traditional telephone box.
The possibility of a red hand crank to complement a light blue case
It could be that the laptop is made in the same blue as is used in the flag of the United Nations. However, it could be a good idea for detachable parts, such as a hand crank, to be made in a particular red colour, using food grade plastic, so that they are clearly distinct and the highly noticeable red colour would perhaps make losing them less likely. Also, photographs showing the laptop in use would have a clear contrast between the light blue of the laptop and the red of any attachments being depicted in the photograph. With such large numbers to be manufactured, it could well be possible to specify a particular colour, perhaps using a pantone code, so that all of the red-coloured peripherals would match each other in colour. If, as will hopefully be the situation, a decision is made by the management to use food grade plastic for the case and hand cranks, it would be desirable to find out which red colours can be produced using food grade plastic before a decision of which particular red colour to use is specified as it might be the situation that intense red colours could not be produced in food grade plastic.
The possibility of a yellow laptop (probably best not!)
A yellow laptop, the colour of sunflowers! Yet wait, when British Telecom was formed by splitting off from the Post Office in the United Kingdom, they announced that telephone boxes and vans would be painted yellow with a blue logo. There were some yellow vans, yet later the vans were light grey. The old telphone boxes are still red, and the newer ones are beige and transparent colourless plastic and so on. Yellow objects in the open air can attract insects, including wasps and bees. So maybe a yellow laptop, which might be great artistically, would be a liability if children in hot developing countries had to carry them in the open air! So, yellow is probably out!
The possibility of a blue laptop, the same blue as in the flag of the United Nations
The picture at present on the main page of this wiki is of a light blue laptop.
http://wiki.laptop.org/wiki/Main_Page
This is not too different from the blue colour of the United Nations flag.
Would it be a good idea to seek the permission of the United Nations for the cases of the laptop to be in the blue colour of the United Nations flag?
Should the case have moulded holes so that the laptop could be carried in the manner of a shoulder bag?
The pictures of three prototypes in the http://www.laptop.org/download.en_US.html web page show that each has a carrying handle.
Would it be a good idea if the laptop were to have at least two moulded holes in the case so that a rugged fabric strip could be attached to two of them so that the laptop could be carried in the manner of a shoulder bag?
Such holes would be an additional feature to the laptop, not instead of the carrying handle.
The holes would need to be "always complete" in the sense that they should not be such that each is made up of two holes which come together when the laptop is closed. If it were otherwise then a carrying strap could not be left in place when the laptop were in use.
The holes would need to have rugged surroundings, a laptop with such holes where the surround of either or both of the holes had broken off leaving a ragged and jagged edge would not be good.
It may be that having such holes would not be a good idea: the idea is put forward for consideration and discussion on the basis that if it is not done then it is better that the possibility had been considered than not considered.
William Overington
7 April 2006
Mechanics
Ruler
add a ruler (with cm spacing and only with cm spacing) to one side of the device.
Wall/Desk mounting
add punch through holes to allow for wall or desk mounting. Eventually hidden in rubber feet (if they are planned). For use in EDV classroom or as embedded device.