$100 hand cranked laptop for poor children unveiled

Researchers unveiled a $100, hand-cranked laptop computer and said they hoped to give it to millions of schoolchildren around the globe.

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About the size of a textbook, the lime-green machines can set up their own wireless networks and operate in areas without a reliable electricity supply, Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) researchers said at the United Nations technology Summit.

"These robust, versatile machines will enable children to become more active in their own learning," UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan said at a press conference on Wednesday where the machine was unveiled.

"Studies and experience have shown repeatedly that kids take to computers much more readily, not just in the comfort of warm, well-lit rich country living rooms, but also in the slums and remote rural areas of the developing world," he added.

The goal is to provide the machines free of charge to children in poor countries who cannot afford computers of their own, said MIT Media Lab chairman Nicholas Negroponte.

The laptop, which one company has offered to build it for $110, runs Linux and is equipped with a hand crank to power it when electric outlet is not available.

Negroponte said he hoped small quantities, several thousands, would be produced this year and more than 100 million by the end of 2006 or 2007.

Governments or charitable donors will pay for the machines but children will own them, he said.

Brazil, Thailand, Egypt and Nigeria are candidates to receive the first wave of laptops starting in February or March, and each will buy at least 1 million units, Negroponte said.

The laptop is not yet in production but one company has offered to build it for $110 and four others are considering bids as well, he said.

But there were some detractors too who said the resources from the project could be put to better use in other critical areas such as healthcare in the Third World.

Features

• The computers operate at 500 MHz, about half the processor speed of commercial laptops, and will run on Linux or some other open-source operating system.
• They can be folded in different ways to serve as an electronic book, a television or a computer.
• A bright yellow hand crank that sticks out prominently from the side serves as an alternate power source when batteries or an electric outlet are not available.
• The computer uses a screen from a portable DVD player, which can be switched from colour to black and white to make it easily viewable in bright sunlight.