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In 2005, OLPC’s $100 laptop was going to change the world — then it all went wrong

In the early 2000s, the concept of “One Laptop Per Child” (OLPC) captured the imagination of the world. The ambitious project aimed to provide every child in the world with a low-cost, rugged, and connected laptop, revolutionizing education and bridging the digital divide. It didn't happen.

17 comments

  • It just so happens I have one of the first ones from 2005. It's been in my garage for 20 years. Fired it up as I read this article, and it still works:

  • Fun concept tho. Especially in 2005:

    In late 2005, tech visionary and MIT Media Lab founder Nicholas Negroponte pulled the cloth cover off a small green computer with a bright yellow crank. The device was the first working prototype for Negroponte’s new nonprofit One Laptop Per Child, dubbed “the green machine” or simply “the $100 laptop.”

    The $100 laptop would have all the features of an ordinary computer but require so little electricity that a child could power it with a hand crank. It would be rugged enough for children to use anywhere, instead of being limited to schools.

    A Linux-based operating system would give kids total access to the computer — OLPC had reportedly turned down an offer of free Mac OS X licenses from Steve Jobs.

    Here's a nice little intro docu about it: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fLJYWc6NZt0&ab_channel=ThisDoesNotCompute

  • I actually had one for a while (I got it second hand)

    Also Pine64 did something similar with the Pinebook. It was a much better device as it didn't try to be the perfect device. It was simply a cheap single board computer put into a plastic shell with a battery and screen.

  • Wrote a paper for one of my finals in college on the efficacy of these. Havent thought of the project for probably 15+ years.

    It really was a fantastic idea, always hoped it would catch on but alas, the Chromebook took over in education spaces thanks to subsidies from Google for the data collection.

    • It really was a fantastic idea, always hoped it would catch on but alas, the Chromebook took over in education spaces thanks to subsidies from Google for the data collection.

      Yep. I do wish they would revisit the whole "water-resistant, rubber/plastic tought as a Tonka truck, drop-resistant, hand crank to charge-up" ideas though!

17 comments