OLPC XO-1
I've been playing around with a QEMU emulation of an OLPC XO-1. The emulation is good enough, but the sound mostly doesn't work and the fonts are too small. The XO-1 is Fedora-based, with 1G of filespace storage (flash memory in the real device) and 256M of RAM. Included "activities" (applications): web-browser, chat, writer, RSS reader, several synth and music programs, no less than three programming language environments, and a couple of games. More programming language environments (and other activities) are available for download on the website. Everything is shareable and collaborative over wireless mesh: the machines are designed to be used together.
I'm very impressed with the simplicity of the user-interface, "Sugar". They've taken usability seriously. There is no "settings" console for the machine, and no "options" or "preferences" for any of the activities (except the RSS reader for some reason). The interface to the file system is a "journal" with saved items and activity use arranged by date backwards from the present. Items can renamed and tagged for easy recall.
Security ("Bitfrost") is interesting. Programs are only allowed the capabilities they need. There are no passwords, it's unreasonable to expect a six-year-old (or, really, anyone else) to remember them. The machine has a cryptographic identity with its own private key. There are some locked-down features, such as an anti-theft system that pings a central server every month or so, and signed firmware updating. However, following the principle of "child ownership", any owner may request a "developer key" for their machine, which unlocks it completely.
I'm not convinced that the plan to distribute them to children in developing countries is a particularly good use of money. Still, it's local governments that are paying for them, so presumably they have some idea of their own needs. On the other hand, I think this would be an excellent device for anyone perplexed by the complexity of computer use, and I'm annoyed that they're not just sold on the open market. Oddly, the various competitors and alternatives such as Classmate and ASUS Eee seem to miss this, instead shipping with either Windows or some Linux UI that vaguely resembles Windows CE.
I'm going to order one on Monday. It's small, cheap (enough) at twice the price (which is the only way to get one), and the UI represents a major innovation. I have no doubt this is a milestone in the history of computers, regardless of the success of its "education, not laptop, project". The future will indeed look like a Bruce Sterling story.