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Article: OLPC and unintended consequences.(One Laptop Per Child program by US government and Nicholas Negroponte)
- Article from:
- Network World
- Article date:
- July 31, 2006
- Author:
CopyrightCOPYRIGHT 2006 Network World, Inc. This material is published under license from the publisher through the Gale Group, Farmington Hills, Michigan. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Gale Group. (Hide copyright information)
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Byline: Howard Anderson
Eight years ago, Larry Ellison tweaked Bill Gates' nose by suggesting the world needed a $100 computer - with a non-Microsoft
operating system, running non-Windows applications. It was great press and great fun, but Ellison was about as ready to build
this low-cost computer as he was to forsake Oracle, take vows of poverty and chastity, and join a monastery.
Last week I held that low-cost computer in my hands. It was built by Nicholas Negroponte and his team at the One Laptop Per
Child (OLPC) project in Cambridge, Mass. It hasn't hit the $100 price tag just yet - the cost is about $140 now, but is still