Low-cost Laptops Battling for Markets

It used to be easy to write off the hardware specs of the One Laptop Per Child (OLPC) device, called XO, as a novelty. They were designing what appeared to be a low power laptop for sale only to 3rd-world countries. But the trend can be ignored no more.

First of all, it is not low-powered--rather is a different paradigm of what is needed in a laptop. If you look at this device with a mentality of the large-storage-with-huge-applications implementation of todays computers, you will likely miss the concept. The XO takes a different approach: Laptop With a Mission Widens Its Audience - New York Times

There’s no CD/DVD drive at all, no hard drive and only a 7.5-inch screen. The Linux operating system doesn’t run Microsoft Office, Photoshop or any other standard Mac or Windows programs. The membrane-sealed, spillproof keyboard is too small for touch-typing by an adult. And then there’s the look of this thing. It’s made of shiny green and white plastic, like a Fisher-Price toy, complete with a handle. With its two earlike antennas raised, it could be Shrek’s little robot friend. And sure enough, the bloggers and the ignorant have already begun to spit on the XO laptop. “Dude, for $400, I can buy a real Windows laptop,” they say. Clearly, the XO’s mission has sailed over these people’s heads like a 747.
The truth is, the XO laptop, now in final testing, is absolutely amazing, and in my limited tests, a total kid magnet. Both the hardware and the software exhibit breakthrough after breakthrough — some of them not available on any other laptop, for $400 or $4,000...

As you read further, there are many well-thought out features available on this machine. Truly, it is not a low power machine.

Another reason one cannot ignore the low-cost laptop trend is that the competition is heating up. The Intel/Microsoft coalition now produces the Classmate PC that is going after the same market as OLPC: eSchool News online - Low-cost laptop deals heat up

Low-cost laptop deals heat up-- Intel, OLPC supply special computers to students in developing nations. Mere hours after news broke that Uruguay's government placed the first official order for the One Laptop Per Child initiative's XO, or "$100 laptop," chip giant Intel Corp. announces that Libya has ordered 150,000 of Intel's own version of the low-cost laptop, the Classmate PC.

Other low-cost laptop companies are now getting into the fray: Cheap Linux PCs may pressure One Laptop Per Child | InfoWorld

Cheap Linux PCs may pressure One Laptop Per Child--Non-profit OLPC's XO notebook has jumped from its original estimated price of $100 and now faces pricing competition from commercial laptops

As component prices drop, the aggressive pricing of commercial Linux notebooks could hamper efforts by One Laptop Per Child to supply inexpensive laptops to children in developing markets. Asustek recently shipped its Linux-based Eee PC, and Everex on Thursday said it would soon sell Linux-based PCs with an x86 processor for under $300. Those competitive prices may draw buyers to commercial laptops over One Laptop Per Chilld's (OLPC's) specialized XO laptops, which will carry a $200 price tag when it ships on Nov. 12, analysts said.

Why should educators in our area even be concerned? Looking at the sheer volume of tech R&D and sales that go into these laptops, it is virtually impossible for the technology/features of these laptops to not creep into the laptop market of the US. The problem is that if our attention is focused solely on the traditional Gateway/Dell/HP/Apple commercial laptop offerings, we may get broadsided. I suspect it is really in our best interest to keep a pulse on where these technologies go because it will most likely show up in our schools in the very near future.

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Fascinating new tech on the horizon

Even if you primarily use a PC, following the new technologies released by Apple computer is important since many of their designs impact the entire technology community. The Macintosh community is notorious for rumor-mongering, and right now is no exception. The low-key laptop upgrades could happen as early as Tuesday,
Think Secret - Laptop updates slated to arrive sooner than expected
but there is much talk of a future ultraportable with no optical drive or hard drive (instead, a 30GB flash drive) coming some time in the near future.
AppleInsider | Next 'MacBook' update a yawner; Ultra-portable to get 13-inch display
Usually tight-lipped on future releases, Steven Jobs also revealed recently that Macintosh computers will soon sport LED backlight monitors (speculated to be a part of a new model of iMac and later laptops). Apple has also filed a patent that some speculate will be incorporated into an innovative dual touch surface iPod and/or iPhone:
Apple invents novel back-to-front iPod control | Reg Hardware
PC Pro: News: Apple patent filing details double-sided iPod
This fascinating technology, which allows the user to touch the back side of a screen to move objects on the viewing screen, is worth watching.

There has also been some speculation about the reason for the delay of Apple's latest operating system, Leopard, from June to October. Many, including myself, believe Apple's stated reason--that they focused the developers' efforts to the iPhone--is unlikely, leading to speculation as to the real reason for the delay. While there have been several theories bantered about, the most intriguing comes from an article describing a complete revamp of the user interface, essentially eliminating overlapping windows (note the small "w" in windows). While I do not necessarily buy into the author's implication that it will hugely impact Microsoft, this is a potential trend that could have some sway on the rest of the technology world:
Leopard's secret: the end of windows?

Apple is a company that specializes in great user interfaces, so why shouldn't Leopard itself gain some of the experience gleaned from Apple's consumer electronics successes of the last seven years?

The trend we're identifying here has been underway for a while. Think about it: how many of Apple's new applications actually use traditional, overlapping windows for anything other than a frame around a unique interface? Garageband doesn't. iTunes barely does except for video. All the Pro Apps like Final Cut, Motion, Aperture, and the like all trend toward paned, not overlapping window, interfaces. And new products like the iPod, iPhone, and Apple TV don't use windows at all, relying instead on vastly simplified buttons and interfaces. Further, consumers are gaining experience with interfaces that rely on transparent panes instead of windows on new HD-DVD and Blu-ray movies. Between transparent overlays and Apple's Spaces feature to allow multiple virtual screens, Apple has eliminated many of the needs for overlapping windows cluttering up desktops. And just as Apple first recognized that computers no longer needed floppy disks any more, ridding consumers of overlapping windows may be the first step in a radical simplification of user experiences again.

Such a radical new "feature" in Leopard would more than justify Apple's efforts to rush developers into learning about the new APIs and preparing them to make some serious changes to their applications...One more thing: doing away with overlapping windows in most of the OS would give Apple a marketing bludgeon to use against Microsoft. In the marketplace of ideas, it would paint Microsoft's six-years-in-the-making Vista as a completely old school effort. It would take Microsoft's best-known and recognized brand -- Windows -- and make it appear as tired as DOS.

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Interesting article on technology trends

This is an interesting article to help identify things that should be on our "radar screens."

Six key ed-tech trends to watch

http://www.eschoolnews.com/news/PFshowstory.cfm?ArticleID=6842

The trends they discuss include:
Trend No. 1: The leveling power of the World Wide Web
Trend No. 2: Cloud computing
Trend No. 3: Service-oriented architecture
Trend No. 4: The gathering SCORM
Trend No. 5: Telepresence and anytime, anywhere education
Trend No. 6: 21st-century learning

While, at a minimum, vaguely familiar with all these ideas, this article helped me better understand all these trends and their potential importance to education.