[info-tech] crystal ball time

[George Tuttle]

Techs:   I don’t know how many of you have been watching the development of the $100 laptop but its now going into production. According to some articles that I have read, several states are contemplating providing these units to all of their students in their respective states. I’ve included a(n) URL below that has more information about the unit. Google is one of the sponsors and wants to play a role in providing the software to be used remotely on these machines. That will be very fascinating to watch. Google has oodles of cash (no pun intended) to fight the other software manufacturers. The basic operating system is linux based so it can be modified and adapted by anyone. My new year predictions are 1) This endeavor will be successful  2) the original idea was to provide cheap computers for third world countries but I think domestic political pressure will also allow kids in the USA to have them as well. It would be quite ironic to supply these to everyone outside the country and not make them available to our own kids so I think they will be available to American schools shortly 3) to compete, all other entry level systems will drastically drop in price ($399 already) 4) schools and internet providers will need to ramp up delivery speeds to handle the amount of remote access that these machines will demand.   Here’s the URL. Check it out: http://laptop.media.mit.edu/2005-1213-olpc.html  This is a news release from yesterday.   George