Digital Trends
The tiny Pacific island nation of Niue—perhaps best known to Internet users for its .nu top-level domain—has become the first nation in the world to give an OLPC XO laptop to every one of its primary and secondary students. Niue has about 400 students and a total population of about 1,500; it’s located in the south Pacific near New Zealand.
The OLPC rollout in Niue has been underway since July, and is part of a larger initiative to distribute 5,000 OLPC laptops in the Pacific region.
Despite years of skepticism, higher-than-expected costs, and competition from commercial endeavors like the Intel Classmate PC, the One Laptop Per Child project continues to gain momentum, with the government of Peru signing a deal to purchase 280,000 of the systems. Thew news comes just as the first non-pilot deployment of OLPC notebooks gets underway in Uruguay, and Mexican billionaire Carlos Slim has purchased 50,000 of the systems for distribution to Mexican children.
While One Laptop Per Child computers are already slated to have a handful of open-source games included on them, one major game publisher will take that list of games to the next level by donating an old-school classic from its archives. Electronic Arts announced on Thursday that it would donate the original 1989 version of SimCity on every OLPC sold.
Besides being a fun way to get kids using the computer, EA believes SimCity can also help them learn. “SimCity is entertainment that’s unintentionally educational,” said Steve Seabolt, vice president of global brand development for The Sims Label, in a statement. “Players learn to use limited resources to build and customize their cities. There are choices and consequences, but in the end, it’s a creativity tool that’s only limited by the player’s imagination.”
Mass production on the OLPC XO low-cost notebook computer has begun at Quanta Computer’s factory in Changshu, China, only a couple weeks after the project admitted a production delay. The start of production actually came sooner than the OLPC effort anticipated: the new schedule called for production to begin November 12. Children should start receiving machines this month; last month, the OLPC project confirmed its first official order for 100,000 notebooks from Uruguay.
Intel and Microsoft have inked a deal to supply Libya’s education ministry withh 150,000 of Intel’s Classmate PC laptop computers. The systems are designed for educational use in developing markets and compete with the One Laptop Per Child project; like the OLPC XO’s final pricetag, the Classmate PC costs about $200 to build.
According to Reuters, the deal was announced in the Libyan press in August, but Intel and Microsoft haven’t discussed the deal outside Libya. Intel spokesperson Agnes Kwan said neither Intel nor Microsoft are subsidizing the cost of the notebooks, but did not reveal how the country is paying for the notebooks.
The so-called $100 laptop, developed by One Laptop Per Child (OLPC) is a great idea that’s been dogged by problems along the way. As it’s developed, it was apparent the cost would be higher than believed, it’s suffered competition, and for a long time it was a product without a buyer.
At least the last factor has started to change. According to a BBC report, Uruguay has placed an order for 100,000 of the machines, which it will distribute to school-aged children. That’s to be followed by a further 300,000, meaning every child in Uruguay will have a computer by 2009.
The One Laptop Per Child Project might have just seen its first XO units come off the assembly line for developers and testing in developing nations, but the project’s backers are already floating new plans to offer the inexpensive machines for sale to the general public—so long as consumer also buy one for use in the developing world.
Everyone wants to be an insider, and you can be one too! Choose your poison: sign-up for our Newsletter, join us on Facebook, or follow us on Twitter. Do all three and you'll be swimming in the the latest news, reviews, videos and more gadget goodness!
Become a DT soldier! Join us on Facebook and share the best news, guides, videos and other cool information directly with all your friends. Some might even thank you for it!
Join the thousands and follow the best of us on Facebook.
Do you like information in small snippets? Then our Twitter feed is just for you. Follow Digital Trends and you'll be able to catch up daily on our latest content, or even interact directly with our team. Tweet Tweet!
Join the thousands and follow the best of us on Twitter.
That’s Right, Sign-up For Our Monthly Random Prize Drawings and You Could Be That Winner.
