SMH: Australia Trials Low-Cost Laptop. Such a misleading title from the Heralds! The article talked about someone liaising with Australian local governments for trials of OLPC, but (1) no response from the actual government body, and (2) no response from the actual OLPC group/distributor. I thought OLPC was initially developed for 3rd world and developing countries, and I am not sure how Australia can be part of it other than contributing to the development and manufacturing! Are we being “so-cheap” thinking we can get those lappies for USD$150 each? Consider that’s the cost to actually manufacture one, let along the cost of design, development, retool the factory, etc.
World OLPC be deployed to Australia? I think not — unless we are willing to pay 2x to 3x the price to cover the cost of development and donate the rest so the kids in developing country who really cannot afford it can have one.
Update: Glenn linked to this Australian IT article saying NT government is also planning trailing in schools. They have officially declared that they are a developing country that needs financial assistance to give students computers? In another news, Ars Technica reported that OLPC has no consumer version planned, via Slashdot.
Hey Scotty, $150 is actually the listing price, after Quanta takes into consideration of yield rate, etc. Of course the chip vendors also had to sale a dirt cheap price to them. Oh.. you gotta see the WLAN, it features mesh networking.
For those Australian citizens with no running water, eletricity, medical care, financial assistance or education, Australia is indeed a 3rd world country.
OLPC is greatly needed in remote communities, especially those created by the white Australia policy.