4 ms·

Negroponte Unveils 2nd Generation OLPC Laptop: It’s an E-Book

6 points by nickb 18y ago

pdubroy 18y ago
I really doubt that touch typing on a touchscreen is feasible, especially for young children who have limited motor abilities. The existing XO keyboard is hard enough to type on as it is.
notdarkyet 18y ago
Wow, this is actually a huge turn away from the direction that the original OLPC took. The fact that it will cost only $75 to make is extremely impressive. Somehow I find this hard to believe that they are going this route. How long could the battery life be for a device that has two huge DVD lcd's? This announcement really reflects the intentions of Negroponte and maybe he never really had 3rd world counties children in mind. I have to imagine that it would be tough to learn to touch type using a touchscreen with no tactile response mechanisms.
- xirium 18y ago
  > Wow, this is actually a huge turn away from the direction that the original OLPC took. Yes, and possibly premature. I hope Nicholas Negrponte doesn't repeat Adam Osborne, who boasted so much about the features of his Osborne 2 that few purchased his Osborne 1 and it bankrupted his company. "It is said that in 1983, Adam Osborne bragged about two advanced new computers his company was developing. These statements destroyed consumer demand for the Osborne 1, and the resulting inventory glut forced Osborne Computer to file for bankruptcy on September 13, 1983." -- http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Adam_Osborne http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Adam_Osborne > I have to imagine that it would be tough to learn to touch type using a touchscreen with no tactile response mechanisms. A variant of the DynaBook ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dynabook http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dynabook ) was supposed to have a vapourware transparent piezo matrix over the screen to provide a tactile response. Alan Kay, who conceived the DynaBook, has been involved with the OLPC Project.
- pdubroy 18y ago
  I don't know how much I trust the $75 figure. Three years before its launch, the XO-1 was predicted to cost $100, but the manufacturing cost is currently upwards of $175. I have my doubts that the XO-1 will even be as cheap as $75 by 2008.
xirium 18y ago
10 days ago, I wrote "In two years, we'll probably have a device which is a mix of laptop, mobile telephone and Nintendo DS. It would be a clamshell design with two 11 inch screens with the bottom one being touch sensitive." ( http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=186508 http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=186508 ). I had something like one of the OLPC's mock-ups ( http://www.xconomy.com/2008/05/20/negroponte-unveils-2nd-generation-olpc-laptop-its-an-e-book/xo-20-laptop-concept-showing-touch-screen-keyboard/ http://www.xconomy.com/2008/05/20/negroponte-unveils-2nd-gen... ) in mind.

6 points by nickb 18y ago

I really doubt that touch typing on a touchscreen is feasible, especially for young children who have limited motor abilities. The existing XO keyboard is hard enough to type on as it is.

notdarkyet 18y ago

Wow, this is actually a huge turn away from the direction that the original OLPC took. The fact that it will cost only $75 to make is extremely impressive. Somehow I find this hard to believe that they are going this route. How long could the battery life be for a device that has two huge DVD lcd's? This announcement really reflects the intentions of Negroponte and maybe he never really had 3rd world counties children in mind. I have to imagine that it would be tough to learn to touch type using a touchscreen with no tactile response mechanisms.

xirium 18y ago
> Wow, this is actually a huge turn away from the direction that the original OLPC took. Yes, and possibly premature. I hope Nicholas Negrponte doesn't repeat Adam Osborne, who boasted so much about the features of his Osborne 2 that few purchased his Osborne 1 and it bankrupted his company. "It is said that in 1983, Adam Osborne bragged about two advanced new computers his company was developing. These statements destroyed consumer demand for the Osborne 1, and the resulting inventory glut forced Osborne Computer to file for bankruptcy on September 13, 1983." -- http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Adam_Osborne http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Adam_Osborne > I have to imagine that it would be tough to learn to touch type using a touchscreen with no tactile response mechanisms. A variant of the DynaBook ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dynabook http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dynabook ) was supposed to have a vapourware transparent piezo matrix over the screen to provide a tactile response. Alan Kay, who conceived the DynaBook, has been involved with the OLPC Project.
pdubroy 18y ago
I don't know how much I trust the $75 figure. Three years before its launch, the XO-1 was predicted to cost $100, but the manufacturing cost is currently upwards of $175. I have my doubts that the XO-1 will even be as cheap as $75 by 2008.

xirium 18y ago

10 days ago, I wrote "In two years, we'll probably have a device which is a mix of laptop, mobile telephone and Nintendo DS. It would be a clamshell design with two 11 inch screens with the bottom one being touch sensitive." ( http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=186508 http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=186508 ). I had something like one of the OLPC's mock-ups ( http://www.xconomy.com/2008/05/20/negroponte-unveils-2nd-generation-olpc-laptop-its-an-e-book/xo-20-laptop-concept-showing-touch-screen-keyboard/ http://www.xconomy.com/2008/05/20/negroponte-unveils-2nd-gen... ) in mind.