[Year 12 IPM] Cranking out a cheaper laptop

[Roland Gesthuizen]

A sub-$100 laptop computer has been unveiled by MIT. The housing is 
protected by a tough rubber exterior and the AC adapter doubles as a 
carry strap. It can even be hand cranked to generate its own power! The 
operating system is Linux and Google <http://www.google.com/> is 
throwing its weight behind the project with some thin client software.  
Massachusetts governor Mitt Romney is planning to start buying these for 
all 500,000 middle and high school pupils in the state.

Imagine if every child in your school had one. Just imagine if we could 
give them away to children in third world countries. 
<http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/technology/4292854.stm> The design process 
alone is worth asking students to work through before they see the model 
developed. "Design a suitable laptop for a child in our sister school in 
Cambodia. What hardware and software specifications would you work towards."

    windup radiohttp://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/technology/4292854.stm

This novel technology solution has many similar parallels to the 
development of a clockwork radio. I used a video about this 10 years ago 
to illustrate the "technology cycle".

    http://www.enginuity.org.uk/enginuity/frame.htm

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