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OLPC chairman Nicholas Negroponte has revealed that the twin-display OLPC XO-2 2.0 project has been scrapped, in favor of an updated – but cosmetically identical – revamp of the existing 1.0 XO-1 model and a new, model 3.0 that has “totally different industrial design, more like a sheet of paper”. Speaking to Xconomy, the outspoken exec also sought to redefine the initial, well-publicized aim of “the $100 laptop” in terms of total cost of ownership: $1 per child per week to buy, maintain and connect the machine.
More OLPC model 3.0 details after the cut
“Not much to say [about the OLPC model 3.0] other than its aspirational aspects: 3.0 is a single sheet, completely plastic and unbreakable, waterproof, 1/4″ thick, full color, reflective and transmissive, no bezel, no holes. 1W. $75, ready in 2012″ Nicholas Negroponte, chairman, OLPC
Whereas the model 2.0 was to have dual touchscreens and a form-factor that could be used either as a traditional laptop or as an ebook, the new model 3.0 will have a more straightforward single-sheet design. In fact it sounds a little like Plastic Logic’s ebook reader, only using a reflective/transmissive display – likely courtesy of Pixel Qi – and requiring just 1W of power.
In the meantime, the current XO-1 will see an update, with the existing processor switched out for an ARM chip. Eventually there will be a no-cost connectivity option too, though Negroponte says that has been the slowest element of the package to get up and running. He claims to have shipped 1.1m XO-1 units, with a manufacturing backlog of 400,000-700,000.
[via Slashdot]
One Response to “OLPC scrap dual-display XO-2; single-sheet “model 3.0 slate” in works”
Alexandra November 29, 2009
How can OLPC claim TCO is 1$ per week per child? Assuming their estimate of a five-year life span for each computer is correct (which it isn’t: I have seen them in classrooms and there is no way they will last 5 years), that leaves $60 per computer after $200 purchase price to cover: distribution, electrical installation (the schools these XOs are destined for mostly don’t have electricity at all, let alone plugs or power for individual computers), satellite dish, training for teachers, repairs, replacements for lost and broken XOs. Who is kidding who?
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