OLPC FAQ

Our Mission

What is the $100 Laptop, really?

The proposed $100 machine will be a Linux-based, with a dual-mode display—both a full-color, transmissive DVD mode, and a second display option that is black and white reflective and sunlight-readable at 3× the resolution. The laptop will have a 500MHz processor and 128MB of DRAM, with 500MB of Flash memory; it will not have a hard disk, but it will have three USB ports. The laptops will have wireless broadband that, among other things, allows them to work as a mesh network; each laptop will be able to talk to its nearest neighbors, creating an ad hoc, local area network. The laptops will use innovative power (including wind-up) and will be able to do most everything except store huge amounts of data.

How is it possible to get the cost so low?

First, by dramatically lowering the cost of the display. The first-generation machine will have a novel, dual-mode display. These displays can be used in either high-resolution black and white in bright sunlight, or in a lower resolution color mode indoors - where the color is created by an LED-based backlight. By rethinking the LCD display: through the removal of color filters, change of the pixel layout, improvements in the optics of the backlight and liquid crystal mode, and in the drive circuitry for the display: We have lowered the typical display cost in a laptop down from $150 to approximately $35. Perhaps more importantly, we have designed a display that is more readable than today's LCDs: a 200dpi, ~20% reflective, sunlight readable display, at a huge power savings. This is critical because half of the world's children do not have electricity at home, and need to be able to charge up the laptop batteries themselves with a peppermill-style crank.

Second, we will get the fat out of the systems. Today's laptops have become obese. Two-thirds of their software is used to manage the other third, which mostly does the same functions nine different ways. Third, we will market the laptops in very large numbers (millions), directly to ministries of education, which can distribute them like textbooks.

Why do children in developing nations need laptops?

Laptops are both a window and a tool: a window into the world and a tool with which to think. They are a wonderful way for all children to "learn learning" through independent interaction and exploration.

Why not a desktop computer, or—even better—a recycled desktop machine?

Desktops are cheaper, but mobility is important, especially with regard to taking the computer home at night. Also, half of the kids in the world don't have electricity at home - this is real barrier to use for a desktop. Kids in the developing world need the newest technology, especially really rugged hardware and innovative software. Recent work with schools in Maine has shown the huge value of using a laptop across all of one's studies, as well as for play. Bringing the laptop home engages the family. In one Cambodian village where we have been working, there is no electricity, thus the laptop is, among other things, the brightest light source in the home.

Finally, regarding recycled machines: if we estimate 100 million available used desktops, and each one requires only one hour of human attention to refurbish, reload, and handle, that is forty-five thousand work years. Thus, while we definitely encourage the recycling of used computers, it is not the solution for One Laptop per Child.

Why not just give children cell phones?

While cell phones are inexpensive and there is growing convergence between the technologies of telephony and computing, there are some differences that make the distribution of cell phones the wrong path to follow. Remember, this is not just a connectivity project; it is a learning project. The display is tiny. Even if the informaiton is beamed to a TV set, their are still two major problems: (1) half of the children in the world don't have electricity at home (and thus no TV); and (2) standard TV resolution is too low for reading books or looking at webpages for an extended period of time. It's possible with HDTV, but HD has very limited presence in the Third World and it is too expensive.

Cell phones are very limited in terms of their ability to foster a wide range of express and, unlike computing culture, which is as much about creating as consuming, phone culture is service oriented: you use a phone, you do not transform it. It is not a “thing to think with.”

Why is it important for each child to have a computer? What's wrong with community-access centers?

One does not think of community pencils—kids have their own. They are tools to think with, sufficiently inexpensive to be used for work and play, drawing, writing, and mathematics. A computer can be the same, but far more powerful. Furthermore, there are many reasons it is important for a child to "own" something—like a football, doll, or book—not the least of which being that these belongings will be well-maintained through love and care.

What about technical support? Would the children's ownership of them lead to sufficiently greater care that technical support becomes unnecessary?

Ownership is key but not everything. We anticipate that there will be local support industries growing up around the project. It cannot and will not be done centrally.

Isn't this project just a techno-Utopian dream? a band aid when more serious surgery needs to be done?

Neither band aids nor serious surgery work. What is needed is evolutionary, done in fast time. The basic assumption is that education is at the root of any solution.

How will those societies that adopt the laptop be affected?

We acknowledge that the laptop will have social, economic, and political impact and that in some instances it may have a negative impact. We will be working closely with our partner countries to monitor the impact, highlighting examples of best practice. We remain steadfast in our belief that learning is fundamental to positive change and that the laptop will afford opportunities for learning where they did not previously exist.

Our Market

How will these be marketed?

The laptops will be sold to governments and issued to children by schools on a basis of "one laptop per child." Initial discussions have been held with China, India, Brazil, Argentina, Egypt, Nigeria, and Thailand. An additional, modest allocation of machines will be used to seed developer communities in a number of other countries. A commercial version of the machine will be explored in parallel.

When do you anticipate these laptops reaching the market? What do you see as the biggest hurdles?

Our preliminary schedule is to have units ready for shipment by the end of 2006 or early 2007. Manufacturing will begin when 5-to-10-million machines have been ordered and paid for in advance.

The biggest hurdle will be manufacturing 100 million of anything. This is not just a supply-chain problem, but also a design problem. The scale is daunting, but I find myself amazed at what some companies are proposing to us. It feels as though at least half the problems are being solved by mere resolve.

What of smaller and poorer developing countries than Brazil or China? Will the $100 laptops pass them by?

Our intention is to include “smaller and poorer” countries, and we are currently investigating mechanisms to include some such countries in the first pilot. Regarding a cross subsidy from commercial sales, this is something else we are exploring. It is not as simple as it appears on the surface: there are local issues, such as anti-dumping laws that need to be considered. We are also in discussions with organizations such as the World Bank and UNDP about alternative funding mechanisms. This is definitely not a one-size-fits-all initiative.

How can you ensure the principle of one laptop per child will be followed after the countries purchase the laptops?

We cannot ensure that the laptops will be deployed in a manner unilaterally dictated by us. In every case, we are working with governments, which by their very nature have unique local agendas. While we can try to shape the nature of their deployment and are working closely with them on roll-out plans, ultimately, our biggest lever is to show them examples of best practice.

In 2007 we plan to explore innovative ways of financing the laptops peer-to-peer, where kids in the USA, for example, buy them for kids in Africa, perhaps the same age and gender, knowing the specific child. Others have already started a website that sells our laptop for $300, so the balance of money can be used to support the poorest children.

Which countries are confirmed?

The seven countries targeted are: China, India, Brazil, Egypt, Nigeria, Thailand and Argentina. Massachusetts could be included for neighborly reasons, but only following legislation and a bid process (like the State of Maine did in the United States).

We have stated to each country that the minimum commitment is one million machines. These do not arrive on day one. They are phased in, with beta units, followed by a small number of production units, followed by an increasing rollout through 2007. The anticipated total of 10M + or – 5M is the range and we cannot predict where this will land, in part because the “commercial version” of the laptop is under discussion and would affect those numbers dramatically.

Will the means of distribution (through ministries of education) and lower price tag mean that this laptop will succeed where others have failed?

We do not expect to have a monopoly on low-priced computers and the bulk of our efforts over time will be in software. However, we do not believe that many previous efforts have positioned themselves properly for this problem-space: learning. It is not just price, it is choice of features, integration into the infrastructure—both communications and educational—and the decision to make this an open, global effort that we think will make the difference.

Will OLPC make a profit rather than passing savings onto the schools?

OLPC will never make a profit and if we can reduce the cost of manufacturing, that savings will be passed along to the schools. We have not guaranteed a $100 price. In fact, some countries want us to add cost and features. What we have guaranteed is that whatever the launch price may be, it will float down thereafter. All successive models will be cheaper, not more expensive and feature rich.

What will OLPC do to stop a grey market?

We will make efforts to deter the grey market, but we will not be able to stop it all together. While we can do things like require the machine to be periodically connected to the school network, there will always be some degree of theft. That said, we've seen no theft in our pilot projects in places such as rural Cambodia.

Will the laptop be available in the First World?

We are exploring the possibility of developing a commercial version and we are in discussions with representatives from the First World about distribution of the non-commercial version. However, our priority is to make the laptop available first where there is the greatest need: the third world.

Our Technology

What about connectivity? Aren't telecommunications services expensive in the developing world?

When these machines pop out of the box, they will make a mesh network of their own, peer-to-peer. This is something initially developed at MIT and the Media Lab. We are also exploring ways to connect them to the backbone of the Internet at very-low cost.

What can a $1000 laptop do that the $100 version can't?

Not much. The plan is for the $100 Laptop to do almost everything. What it will not do is store a massive amount of data.

Who is the original design manufacturer (ODM) of the $100 laptop?

Quanta Computer Inc. of Taiwan has been chosen as the original design manufacturer (ODM) for the $100 laptop project. The decision was made after the board reviewed bids from several possible manufacturing companies.

Quanta Computer Inc. was founded in 1988 in Taiwan. With over US $10 billion in sales, Quanta is the world's largest manufacturer of laptop PCs; the company also manufactures mobile phones, LCD TVs, and servers and storage products. In addition, Quanta recently opened a new US $200 million R&D center, Quanta R&D Complex (QRDC), in Taiwan. The facility, which opened in Q3 of 2005, has 2.2 million square feet of floor space, and a capacity to house up to 7,000 engineers.

What software will be used with the $100 laptop?

The one-laptop-per-child computer (OLPC) will come with some general purpose software: web browser; word processing; basic tools for personal expression; etc. There also will be high-quality educational examples of OLPC use.

OLPC is working with Red Hat on a Linux kernel for the machine, but we are opening up the design; it is inevitable that there will be several variants of Linux to chose from, as well as some version of Windows, and perhaps an OSX offering.

We made a decision to base the OLPC on open-source software in order to provide countries (and to whatever degree appropriate, the children themselves) with the freedom to decide for themselves what to place on the machines, and to share and localize examples of best practice generated domestically and taken from abroad.

Will the laptop owner be able to upgrade any aspect of it (e.g., replace the 512M flash with 1Gb flash)?

The laptop will have 3 USB2 ports for expansion. We are not anticipating internal upgrades, although some countries may ask for additional features added at the time of manufacture (e.g.,additional flash).

Will the mesh networking be an effective replacement for Internet access?

We don't anticipate the mesh network replacing the Internet; rather it will complement the Internet. The mesh will be for local communication. An uplink at the school will be the gateway out. Providing local telecommunications is in and of itself of benefit to the children and their communities. There may be local regulatory issues that need to be addressed.

Our Team

How will this initiative be structured?

The $100 laptop is being developed by One Laptop per Child (OLPC), a Delaware-based, non-profit organization created by members of the MIT Media Lab to design, manufacture, and distribute laptops that are sufficiently inexpensive to provide every child in the world access to knowledge and modern forms of education. OLPC is based on "constructionist" theories of learning pioneered by Seymour Papert and later Alan Kay, as well as the principles expressed in Nicholas Negroponte's book 'Being Digital'. The founding corporate members are Advanced Micro Devices (AMD), Brightstar, Google, News Corporation, Nortel, and Red Hat.

Nicholas Negroponte is chairman of One Laptop per Child and Mary Lou Jepsen serves as chief technology officer. Other principals involved in developing the $100 Laptop are: Walter Bender, Jim Gettys, Michail Bletsas, V. Michael Bove, Jr., David Cavallo, Benjamin Mako Hill, Joseph Jacobson, Alan Kay, Tod Machover, Seymour Papert, Mitchel Resnick, and Ted Selker.

Design Continuum is collaborating on the laptop design.

How can I get involved?

There are many ways to get involved, the most basic being to contribute your ideas and feedback. There is a project wiki (http://pedia.media.mit.edu/wiki/One_Laptop_per_Child) where we are accumulating information about the project and suggesting places and ways to help.