Buying a desktop on a US$100 (S$168.7
budget will get you laughed out of a store. Trying the same for a notebook may work, if you are fast enough to snatch it out of the store as the sales staff are still rolling on the ground in mirth. However, that may not be the case soon as Nicholas Negroponte, the co-founder of the Media Lab at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, is developing a low-priced notebook for third-world customers. With due consideration to the uncertain electrical supply in certain areas, the laptop will have a novel wind-up system as an alternate power source.
Key features: Cheap; wind-up power system; Wi-Fi and cell phone connectivity to the Internet.
Advantages: Costs less than a good meal at The French Laundry; alternative power supply during blackouts; makes mobile computing accessible to everyone with two arms and US$100 (S$168.7
.
Disadvantages: Hardware sufficient only for the most basic applications; could result in a notebook "throwaway" mentality; medical treatment may be required if user attempts to watch movies during a blackout.
Est. implementation time: 2007
