Originally posted on November 7, 2007 @ 11:43 pm

I have always been a firm believer of the aims and goals of the One Laptop per Child Foundation. I really believe that giving children in the developing world access to information and computers will have a tremendous impact not only on these children on a personal level but also on their respective countries in the future.

Thus, it was with great excitement when I read that the Foundation announced that production of new affordable computers have already begun.

According to the Foundation, Quanta Computer of Taiwan has commenced commercial production of its product — a lime green and white XO laptop computer. Already, orders have come in from Uruguay and Mongolia. The computers will also be made available to American and Canadian children through a 399 dollar holiday charity program that would subsidize the purchase of a second machine for children in other countries.

The XO laptop runs on Linux and is designed primarily for elementary school children. This early, is already proving to have an impact on the computer industry. The Fondation, which was founded by Nicholas Negroponte, is already creating ripples in the market, leading other manufacturers to produce their own versions of low cost computers for the consumption of target audiences like women and children.

I really think that that OLPC initiative will benefit us consumers in the long term. I envision laptops to drop prices significantly in the next four to five years and eventually achieving a critical pricepoint where they can viably compete with desktops.

Originally posted on October 26, 2007 @ 10:28 pm

I’m about to renew my mobile phone plan at the end of this month and this means getting a new phone for free as part of my mobile service provider’s policy for renewals.

I’m not much of a mobile phone freak so I only really upgrade my phone during my mobile plan renewal. I’m not the type who looks at mobile phones as a status symbol and thus have the weird need to change to the latest must-have phone every couple of months. I’m quite content with my two year renewal plans especially since it saves me a lot of money.

The phone that I have set my sights on is quite nifty because it could possibly become a wonderful alternative to my laptop. It’s the Nokia E61i. What I love about this new convergence device is that it actually has built in WiFi. The nature of my job requires me to always have access to websites and the Nokia E61i really fits my particular need. Of course, WiFi also means that I can now also check my email anywhere I am (doubly important since I have important emails that come in everyday, which require my immediate response). The phone’s QWERTY keyboard also means that composing long messages (or even posting blogs) won’t be a difficulty anymore. The only negative is the lack of touchscreen controls. This would have made the E61i THE absolute best in phones right now. But that’s a minor quibble over a device that will allow me the luxury of not bringing my laptop at events or situations where a piece of expensive equipment may get damaged.