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.
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
Good intentions, bad execution