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The $75 computer?
Jan. 11, 2008

When the OLPC (One Laptop per Child) was first proposed, much was made of how impossible it was that there could ever be a $100 computer. Well, the naysayers were right. It turned out to be a $200 computer. Now, former OLPC Chief Technology Officer Mary Lou Jepsen says she can make a $75 laptop.

I wouldn't bet against her. OLPC showed that you could make cheap, sturdy Linux-powered laptops. Now, companies like Everex, with its gPC TC2502, and Asus, with its Eee PC 4G UMPC (ultramobile PC) laptop, have shown you can make commercial Linux-powered PCs for less than $200.

Tiffany Maleshefski explains more about how Jepsen plans on pushing PC prices even lower with open-source techniques in You Go Girl! After reading this tale, I can see sub-$100 Linux-powered computers in my future.


Steven J. Vaughan-Nichols



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