In November 2005 it was anounced that the MIT labs in conjuction with several corperate sponsers would be creating a laptop that would cost $100. The idea was to deliver laptops to children in underdeveloped countries throughout the world. It was an incredible initiative and took the better part of two years, but the XO has arrived and you can see it at OLPC. Unfortunately the price tag is more around the $200 mark instead of the $100 mark, but the price is expected to go down as more units are manufactured and sold. The fundementals behind the OLPC idea are as follows:
- Child ownership
- Low ages. The hardware and software are designed for elementary school children aged 6-12.
- Saturation
- Connection
- Free and open source
(this is from wikipedia.org)
So it’s not meant for adults (although I am sure there will be some kind of model offered from a different company marketed to adults), and it is seen as more of an educational project than a laptop project. Currently they are maketing the buy one and donate one idea. Where $399 buys one for your child and one for an underprivelidged child. Please go and see the website and learn more about this noble project.