Developing World Still Short on Food, Laptops
Here is a picture from a 1954 Popular Mechanics issue.
The text reads, "Scientists from the RAND Corporation have created this model to illustrate how a "home computer" could look like in the year 2004. However the needed technology will not be economically feasible for the average home. Also the scientists readily admit that the computer will require not yet invented technology to actually work, but 50 years from now scientific progress is expected to solve these problems. With teletype interface and the Fortran language, the computer will be easy to use."
Computer scientists in 1954 underestimated the impending sweeping force of the emerging information age. Computer languages would be invented that would far surpass cumbersome Fortran. The microprocessor would make economic history. Computers would become personal computers, feasible for the average home -- even for many average backpacks and pockets. But not everywhere, not yet. Earlier this year I mentioned the MIT Media Lab's research initiative for the possibility of $100 laptops for children in developing countries. It was first announced in January by Lab Chairman and Co-founder Nicholas Negroponte at the World Economic Forum. A non-profit named One Laptop per Child (OLPC) was formed to achieve the title's goal.
As technological research and (hopefully) enticing proposals for various governments in countries such as Thailand and Egypt have pushed forward, the plan has garnered some criticism. A writer for Slate recently railed against it, listing several reasons why the low $100 mark is not feasible, such as costs for hardware, labor, distribution and other reasons. He said it was risky for buyers because similar efforts have failed, and countries that are already strapped for cash would think twice before forking over millions of dollars just to get the laptops into production.
Intel's chairman called it a mere gadget, saying what people want is something more grown up, with the full functionality of a PC, not something dependent on hand cranks for power. But Intel, the world's largest chip maker, would say this. They are making their own efforts to deliver computer technology and wireless access to the developing world, but do not plan on producing low-cost computers such as MIT Media Lab's.
MIT should keep trying. Companies like Dell and Linspire are already close to the mark with $300 and $500 desktops that are suitable enough for web browsing and homework. Don't forget that even leading innovators on the bleeding edge can fall light years short when making predictions about feasibility and personal computing. Computing giant IBM's founder once quipped that there was a world market for about five computers.Correction: perspectivism points out that the 1954 "home computer" model shown above is not a Popular Mechanics picture at all, but a hoax! According to urban myth site Snopes.com, it was created for a Fark.com photoshopping contest. It was taken from an original photo of a submarine console from a U.S. Navy web site, converted to grayscale, and modified to display the teletype console and television set, as well as the accompanying individual.
You know, after posting this entry, I scrolled between that picture and the one of the OLPC laptop, thinking "damn, what a fine example of my point." And with some genuine vacuum tube shots, it would be. There's a lesson somewhere, but I have a birthday party to attend.
The text reads, "Scientists from the RAND Corporation have created this model to illustrate how a "home computer" could look like in the year 2004. However the needed technology will not be economically feasible for the average home. Also the scientists readily admit that the computer will require not yet invented technology to actually work, but 50 years from now scientific progress is expected to solve these problems. With teletype interface and the Fortran language, the computer will be easy to use."
Computer scientists in 1954 underestimated the impending sweeping force of the emerging information age. Computer languages would be invented that would far surpass cumbersome Fortran. The microprocessor would make economic history. Computers would become personal computers, feasible for the average home -- even for many average backpacks and pockets. But not everywhere, not yet. Earlier this year I mentioned the MIT Media Lab's research initiative for the possibility of $100 laptops for children in developing countries. It was first announced in January by Lab Chairman and Co-founder Nicholas Negroponte at the World Economic Forum. A non-profit named One Laptop per Child (OLPC) was formed to achieve the title's goal.
As technological research and (hopefully) enticing proposals for various governments in countries such as Thailand and Egypt have pushed forward, the plan has garnered some criticism. A writer for Slate recently railed against it, listing several reasons why the low $100 mark is not feasible, such as costs for hardware, labor, distribution and other reasons. He said it was risky for buyers because similar efforts have failed, and countries that are already strapped for cash would think twice before forking over millions of dollars just to get the laptops into production.
Intel's chairman called it a mere gadget, saying what people want is something more grown up, with the full functionality of a PC, not something dependent on hand cranks for power. But Intel, the world's largest chip maker, would say this. They are making their own efforts to deliver computer technology and wireless access to the developing world, but do not plan on producing low-cost computers such as MIT Media Lab's.
MIT should keep trying. Companies like Dell and Linspire are already close to the mark with $300 and $500 desktops that are suitable enough for web browsing and homework. Don't forget that even leading innovators on the bleeding edge can fall light years short when making predictions about feasibility and personal computing. Computing giant IBM's founder once quipped that there was a world market for about five computers.Correction: perspectivism points out that the 1954 "home computer" model shown above is not a Popular Mechanics picture at all, but a hoax! According to urban myth site Snopes.com, it was created for a Fark.com photoshopping contest. It was taken from an original photo of a submarine console from a U.S. Navy web site, converted to grayscale, and modified to display the teletype console and television set, as well as the accompanying individual.
You know, after posting this entry, I scrolled between that picture and the one of the OLPC laptop, thinking "damn, what a fine example of my point." And with some genuine vacuum tube shots, it would be. There's a lesson somewhere, but I have a birthday party to attend.