MIT's laptop with a handcrank $100 (real)

[Almighty Colin]

http://news.com.com/2300-1044_3-5884639-1.html

[Trev]

Damn, that's cheaper than a new battery for most laptops.

[Almighty Colin]

"The laptops will have a 10 to 1 crank rate, so that a child will crank the handle for one minute to get 10 minutes of power and use."

[Almighty Colin]

"As to children accessing pornography, the lab is working on how best to block harmful online content, he said. However, Negroponte asks people not to blame the medium. “Pornography uses the printed page, but [Johannes] Gutenberg [the inventor of the printing press] isn’t getting much flak,” he quipped."

[MorganGrayson]

Now that is *cool.*

[sarettah]

Originally Posted by Almighty Colin

"As to children accessing pornography, the lab is working on how best to block harmful online content, he said. However, Negroponte asks people not to blame the medium. “Pornography uses the printed page, but [Johannes] Gutenberg [the inventor of the printing press] isn’t getting much flak,” he quipped."

Well, the crank already keeps the right hand occupied

[Almighty Colin]

Originally Posted by sarettah

Well, the crank already keeps the right hand occupied

nice

[Dravyk]

The best part is the monitor will have a prehistoric bird inside chiselling the pixels with his beak.

[DrGuile]

The design is spectacular, really nice stuff, but the 100$ cost target is a pipe dream...

Think about it, how much is replacing the battery in your laptop? Does it feature a crank and charging mechanism? No, its just a battery... and it produced in gigantic volume...

unless it's black and white and runs on a Motorola 68000 CPU, I dont see it being <100$

[TheEnforcer]

Damn.. that's quite remarkable.....

[Nickatilynx]

That is very very cool.

[MorganGrayson]

I can picture this thing being a life saver for campers, those good people up in fire towers in the middle of the forest, and all the dozens or more groups that have no access to a battery charging device.

And even if it isn't as dramatic as "life saving," it will be flat out fun. Keep the kids quiet on long drives. They'd have to crank every 10 minutes to keep watching the cartoons.

By the way...why the hell does every computer intended for kids make the quick hop to pornography??? Why don't these people have the smarts to up the price a bit and say "safe surfing software included, because we're so cool and concerned 'n' stuff like that!" I'd think it would be a great marketing feature.

[ReighlynnRaine]

Originally Posted by MorganGrayson

I can picture this thing being a life saver for campers, those good people up in fire towers in the middle of the forest, and all the dozens or more groups that have no access to a battery charging device.

And even if it isn't as dramatic as "life saving," it will be flat out fun. Keep the kids quiet on long drives. They'd have to crank every 10 minutes to keep watching the cartoons.

By the way...why the hell does every computer intended for kids make the quick hop to pornography??? Why don't these people have the smarts to up the price a bit and say "safe surfing software included, because we're so cool and concerned 'n' stuff like that!" I'd think it would be a great marketing feature.

Because by making a stink of it they can keep trying to make us look like monsters.

[Newton]

It looks like you have to tip it on its edge every time you wish to crank it .. neat idea but not doesnt seem practical to do that .. Wasnt that British inventor (Trevor Baylis) who did the wind up radio, making one of these too a while back?

[Trev]

Originally Posted by Newton

It looks like you have to tip it on its edge every time you wish to crank it .. neat idea but not doesnt seem practical to do that .. Wasnt that British inventor (Trevor Baylis) who did the wind up radio, making one of these too a while back?

He sold the idea to someone... hmm... I wonder who...

[Newton]

I didn't know he sold the idea .. cool

[Trev]

Originally Posted by Newton

I didn't know he sold the idea .. cool

That's something he claimed when he became an adviser for the British Invention Show. (BBC2)

[MorganGrayson]

Originally Posted by ReighlynnRaine

Because by making a stink of it they can keep trying to make us look like monsters.

I'm sure you're right. I mean...why deal with a problem sensibly when you can just toss around hideous scare tactics?

Am I the only person on the entire internet who has never "accidentally" come across a porn site????

[Jace]

Originally Posted by DrGuile

The design is spectacular, really nice stuff, but the 100$ cost target is a pipe dream...

Think about it, how much is replacing the battery in your laptop? Does it feature a crank and charging mechanism? No, its just a battery... and it produced in gigantic volume...

unless it's black and white and runs on a Motorola 68000 CPU, I dont see it being <100$

well, certain laptops being released now have a retail price of $499 according to the compusa circular right now...so, how is $100 not possible?