3 ms·

I'd say OLPC did change the world in a myriad small ways, just not in the big lofty way they imagined. As other commenters mentioned, it was a direct inspirati

by senko 7y ago

I'd say OLPC did change the world in a myriad small ways, just not in the big lofty way they imagined. As other commenters mentioned, it was a direct inspiration for Asus eee PC, which spawned an entire category of netbooks and ultrabooks. I wouldn't be surprised if indirectly it also was a part of inspiration for iPads and Android tablets by letting Apple and others realise there's a strong demand for sub-notebook consumer "computers". As another commenter mentioned, Raspberry Pi was also in part influenced/inspired by OLPC. And on a personal note: around 9 years ago I was working on (porting some Linux software to) a touchscreen-capable netbook directly inspired by OLPC. In my spare time, frustrated by the lack of touchscreen-friendly drawing apps I built a small web app to scratch my itch. Several years later, it's used by hundreds of thousands of people worldwide, many of them teachers and kids in elementary schools. I wouldn't be surprised if there are a lot of people out there with similar stories to tell.

baybal2 7y ago
I'm have to say, things went wrong for OLPC the moment it was entrusted to a "development official" Chinese were able to make quite usable $60 laptops at around the same time OLPC's pre-subsidy pricetag went over $200
- em-bee 7y ago
  at what scale? the problem with the cost of OLPC laptops was lack of scale.
  - baybal2 7y ago
    Then they should've spent all that money placing a big order, and not sitting and eating through them for 5 years
    - em-bee 7y ago
      how would they be able to do that? they didn't get all the money at once. you can't order what you can't sell. they expected to sell 10 times as many laptops as they actually sold. and it wasn't because of the price.
- akhilcacharya 7y ago
  > Chinese were able to make quite usable $60 laptops at around the same time OLPC's pre-subsidy pricetag went over $200 Really? Which model?
  - baybal2 7y ago
    There was a generic design based on Via Wondermedia at around that time. Its wholeasale price was going down to $70 in 10k+ batches. https://www.google.com/search?q=wondermedia+laptop https://www.google.com/search?q=wondermedia+laptop Used to be sold to Africa, South and Southeast Asia in droves, but not anymore when quite decent x86 lappies now go for $150
MisterTea 7y ago
> As other commenters mentioned, it was a direct inspiration for Asus eee PC, which spawned an entire category of netbooks and ultrabooks. I'd say they were late to the table with a sub notebook design as Toshiba released the Libretto in 1996. Then there were those weird Windows CE mini laptop organizers in the 90's as well. Sharp Wizard, etc.
- zozbot234 7y ago
  Wasn't the Toshiba Libretto more like a $2000 laptop? <g> With the Windows CE 'organizers' not that far behind? Sure, hardware was a lot more costly back in the 1990s, but still. (And how could you forget to mention the Palm NetBook?)
- II2II 7y ago
  From my recollections, the OLPC foundation never set out to create the subnotebook. Size was a factor because of the intended audience, but design considerations such as cost and power consumption were much more important. Contrast that to subnotebooks of the era for western markets, which tended to be rather expensive. Those were not the only technical design considerations. Durability, sunlight readable screens, and protecting children from theft and surveillance also come to mind. Very few of those things were factors in the subnotebook market that preceded or followed, except for cost. In all likelihood the OLPC drove the development of other low cost portable computers.
chaostheory 7y ago
I agree. I would say that the Chromebook is its spiritual successor. Chromebook is very popular in the education sector. OLPC has changed the world.
wnevets 7y ago
>As other commenters mentioned, it was a direct inspiration for Asus eee PC, which spawned an entire category of netbooks and ultrabooks. I wouldn't be surprised if indirectly it also was a part of inspiration for iPads and Android tablets by letting Apple and others realise there's a strong demand for sub-notebook consumer "computers". Seems like a lot of people forget about the netbook "revolution"

by senko 7y ago

baybal2 7y ago

I'm have to say, things went wrong for OLPC the moment it was entrusted to a "development official" Chinese were able to make quite usable $60 laptops at around the same time OLPC's pre-subsidy pricetag went over $200

em-bee 7y ago
at what scale? the problem with the cost of OLPC laptops was lack of scale.
- baybal2 7y ago
  Then they should've spent all that money placing a big order, and not sitting and eating through them for 5 years
  - em-bee 7y ago
    how would they be able to do that? they didn't get all the money at once. you can't order what you can't sell. they expected to sell 10 times as many laptops as they actually sold. and it wasn't because of the price.
akhilcacharya 7y ago
> Chinese were able to make quite usable $60 laptops at around the same time OLPC's pre-subsidy pricetag went over $200 Really? Which model?
- baybal2 7y ago
  There was a generic design based on Via Wondermedia at around that time. Its wholeasale price was going down to $70 in 10k+ batches. https://www.google.com/search?q=wondermedia+laptop https://www.google.com/search?q=wondermedia+laptop Used to be sold to Africa, South and Southeast Asia in droves, but not anymore when quite decent x86 lappies now go for $150

MisterTea 7y ago

> As other commenters mentioned, it was a direct inspiration for Asus eee PC, which spawned an entire category of netbooks and ultrabooks. I'd say they were late to the table with a sub notebook design as Toshiba released the Libretto in 1996. Then there were those weird Windows CE mini laptop organizers in the 90's as well. Sharp Wizard, etc.

zozbot234 7y ago
Wasn't the Toshiba Libretto more like a $2000 laptop? <g> With the Windows CE 'organizers' not that far behind? Sure, hardware was a lot more costly back in the 1990s, but still. (And how could you forget to mention the Palm NetBook?)
II2II 7y ago
From my recollections, the OLPC foundation never set out to create the subnotebook. Size was a factor because of the intended audience, but design considerations such as cost and power consumption were much more important. Contrast that to subnotebooks of the era for western markets, which tended to be rather expensive. Those were not the only technical design considerations. Durability, sunlight readable screens, and protecting children from theft and surveillance also come to mind. Very few of those things were factors in the subnotebook market that preceded or followed, except for cost. In all likelihood the OLPC drove the development of other low cost portable computers.

chaostheory 7y ago

I agree. I would say that the Chromebook is its spiritual successor. Chromebook is very popular in the education sector. OLPC has changed the world.

wnevets 7y ago

>As other commenters mentioned, it was a direct inspiration for Asus eee PC, which spawned an entire category of netbooks and ultrabooks. I wouldn't be surprised if indirectly it also was a part of inspiration for iPads and Android tablets by letting Apple and others realise there's a strong demand for sub-notebook consumer "computers". Seems like a lot of people forget about the netbook "revolution"