I'm really digging that crank thing. It's so obvious, why has noone thought of it before? The radio worked perfectly...

I wouldn't expect more than 640*480 from the screen, but I suppose 640*480 is infinitely better than 0*0...

Clockwork computer power planned for next year (date: 1999)

So, that's where the AMD Geode went to?

"Among the key specs: A 500-megahertz processor (that was fast in the 1990s but slow by today's standards) by Advanced Micro Devices Inc."

Greetings,

I wonder how big the photovoltaic panel would have to be to run this unit?

BTW, you can also use TinyURL to shorten those mega-long URL's...

yeah waste of 100 dollars on a computer. paper books, nutrition, agricultural technology, better teachers.

NOPE. laptops! "Let them eat cake!"

anyways, I wish they used VIA C or Eden N processors.

"I'd buy that for a dollar!"

Why? This kind of random heavy-handedness is unwarranted.

I think they'd find more than just demand with kids. In fact I hardly think any kids would get them with the shortage that would be caused at $100. I'd be happy to part with $100 for a fanless, silent, wireless capable machine. With a crank to recharge it I would part with $200 right now for something like that.

I believe their plan is to only sell to government entities...not to individuals. Perhaps it'll be expanded later...or someone else will take the form factor and run with it... A year after the Apple Mini there was a wintel clone at Computex...

"Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney hopes to start buying them for all 500,000 middle and high-school students in this state"

i do find this rather a rediculous waste of money.. $50m, when almost all the kids will have pcs many times more powerful.. alot of them laptops.. it would really be a major boost for linux thou if everyone in mass had experience of using linux (althou, not a hugely impressive one with that cpu)
iirc its slower than a 'pentium x' 500mhz too?
still it *is* enough power for 90% of the stuff that most people use computers for, provided efficient software.. the only thing that i think could kill it (in the west/commercial market) is the screen resolution.. attempting to view webpages, which are mainly made for 1024x768+ on a 640x480 screen would be a real PITA.

i agree alleycat, the BIG RED CAPS are more of an eyesore than a long url . i like how "quiet" the spcr forums are (esp. sig/avatar rules) but these messages don't make the forums seem very welcoming/friendly! can't the admins reprimand by PM or something...?

$50 million our gentleman Massachusetts governor intends to spend on these devices when homeless people are freezing due to budget cutbacks and Lord knows how many other important public endeavors are suffering from funding shortages. Truly makes me sick.

Especially, as mb2 mentioned, when most of the kids already will have access to more powerful computers.

Also, ~El~Jefe~ is right on right -- in poor countries the money would be much better spent on books, healthcare, teachers, etc., and the education won't suffer. Competence with computers is only important after a person is thoroughly literate.

It's a wonderful machine for $100 that hardly anyone who travels would hesitate to buy who didn't want to spend ten times that much on a unit that could get lost or stolen or damaged. ...And you can use it outside.

PM'ing is more of a pain in the rear end and tends to be unreliable. Typically, I leave a small italicized font message explaining the change that I made. It's short enough not to be too much of a distraction. I try to be polite enough, but it's hard to do so while remaining concise. Adding a footer to the message also politely encourages other readers to embed their oversized links whenever they choose to post.

BTW, I was NOT the one who made the changes above.

That computer is probably too underpowered for industrialized nations, but what can I get for $200? Maybe 1024x768, an electric battery charger, a significant hard disk, a speaker, a USB port, a CD ROM drive, and enough CPU power to play back an MP3? No, you're probably not going to make a computer to satisfy the western world for $200. But hey, you can get an entry level Dell laptop with the above features, and a Celeron whose clockspeed is measured in GHz, for $450.

There's no sense in Massachussets buying $100 crappy PCs when so many kids have cell phones that are about as powerful.

Point of concern: What will be the service life of the batteries in these $100 PCs? I'm picturing, five years from now, the computers that have been used heavily will have weak batteries to the point that you need to crank more or less continuously or the machine will power down and have to be re-booted. No fun.

Also, how are people in, say, rural India, supposed to connect to the internet?