The Netbook Origin—-all started from XO!!

The One Laptop per Child association develops a low-cost laptop—the “XO Laptop”—to revolutionize how we educate the world’s children. Their mission is “to provide educational opportunities for the world’s poorest children by providing each child with a rugged, low-cost, low-power, connected laptop with content and software designed for collaborative, joyful, self-empowered learning.”

What is XO actually?

A small machine with a big mission. It’s about the size of a small textbook. It has built-in wireless and a unique screen that is readable under direct sunlight for children who go to school outdoors. It’s extremely durable, brilliantly functional, energy-efficient, and fun.

Here are some photos of the XO:

Mongolian children admiring the XO..

Children in Sierra Leone is doign the same too...

Quanta manufacturing

Some Quick facts you might be interested to know:

– The guy started this noble intention (OLPC founder):

OLPC was founded by Nicholas Negroponte with a core of Media Lab veterans

– The designer who conceptualized the XO and made it happened:

mary_lou_jepsen

Jepsen is a veteran of the MIT Media Lab. In 2005 Jepsen and Media Lab founder Nicholas Negroponte launched the nonprofit, open-source One Laptop Per Child program. The machines would have to work in extreme climate, amid spotty power and Internet connectivity, and be readable in direct sunlight. Oh, and they would have to sell for around $100 each. Negroponte ran the project, but Jepsen was the lead innovator and architect of the hundreds-strong team that would design the machine.

Within two years they succeeded, creating a computer that can run on solar power, with five times the screen resolution of other laptops and a wireless system that creates its own network. The $100 price point has not been met, but $188 has. Jepsen did all that 12 years after receiving a diagnosis of a brain tumor in 1995 that had gone undetected for five years. She beat the disease but must take a dozen pills every day to keep her hormone output stable.

– The company contracted to manufacture the XO machine is a Taiwanese company-Quanta. It’s hardly a household name, but Quanta is the largest laptop manufacturer in the world. Odds are that parts of the machine on your desk, whether it’s from Apple, Dell, or Hewlett-Packard, were made by Quanta—possibly even designed by Quanta. Like most Taiwanese computer makers, it employs some of the sharpest engineers on the planet.

All these noble people not only give hope to the developing countries especially the poor children access to the WWW but also help me and you in finding a better solution for Starbucks, Coffee Bean, or Old Town hang around.

Why do i say that?

Inspired (or perhaps a bit scared) by the OLPC project, Asustek—Quanta’s archrival in Taiwan and the world’s seventh-largest notebook maker—began crafting its own inexpensive, low-performance computer. It, too, would be built cheaply using Linux, flash memory, and a tiny 7-inch screen. It had no DVD drive and wasn’t potent enough to run programs like Photoshop. Indeed, Asustek intended it mainly just for checking email and surfing the Web. This led to the birth of the very 1st commercial netbook,dubbed the Eee PC in fall 2007.  The entire 350,000-unit inventory was sold in a few months. The interesting fact is Eee PCs weren’t bought by people in poor countries but by middle-class consumers in western Europe and the US, people who wanted a second laptop to carry in a handbag for peeking at YouTube or Facebook wherever they were. Soon the major PC brands—Dell, HP, Lenovo—were scrambling to catch up; by fall 2008, nearly every US computermaker had rushed a teensy $400 netbook to market.

Following are the netbooks available in the market:

Asustek _Eee PC

MSI_wind

Dell_mini

Acer_aspire one

HP_Mini

As an advocate for new technology, i had tried on all these netbooks and eventually i bought myself the HP_Mininote @ abt RM1400. In my humble opinion, it is the best among these models considering it has a standard chipset & RAM for netbook, larger HDD storage,nicer outlook,and its lighter weigh.

If you think of getting one, kindly contact me at +6012-3408259 as I am having one unit for sale @ only RM1000.

Reason of this great offer? I want you to enjoy the advantages of having a smaller,lighter and cheaper notebook when you go to Old town,Starbucks or even Coffee Bean. This will also boast your image  comparing to those who are bringing 1 ton heavy and 14.1 inch squarish looking m/c to the coffee house. The small round table in Starbucks also could not accomodate your big notebook and your caramel macchiato (be it size tall,grande or venti…) . Think abt it….

the size does matter!

🙂

~ by talkkok on March 9, 2009.