Performa
Member
Thanks to the incredible generosity of a local donor, I'm pleased to announce that the Wisconsin Computer Club now has something very exciting in the inventory. I've had it here at the shop for a little while here in an effort to get the hang of it, and I finally feel I have a firm enough grasp of this unusual device to explain what it is, and more interestingly, how it came to be in the first place.
Pictured above is a "One Laptop Per Child" (OLPC) model XO-1 laptop. Developed by the One Laptop Per Child foundation, the goal was straightforward but ambitious- develop a laptop robust and cheap enough that it could be mass produced and then delivered into the hands of children the world over- with an emphasis on developing countries without much technology literacy. Setting off in 2005, their design team did just that with the XO- creating a machine powerful enough to be useful, rugged enough to survive rougher than normal conditions, and cheap enough to be mass produced at a level that the devices could be given away to children that could use them.
The project itself was funded by a number of corporate heavy-hitters (like Google), philanthropic donors, and even a few governments. The XO was indeed mass produced, and the computers did reach the world. All the same, even at their reduced manufacturing cost, the loss was still greater than OLPC could endure long term. Efforts were made to create successor machines, but these fizzled, and OLPC shuttered in 2014.
But, what about this neat little machine? The XO-1 is an attractive, lightweight, and surprisingly rugged-feeling little device. Most of the computer "guts" are in the monitor portion, which is reversible like a 2-in-1 laptop. It runs a custom version of linux that (while in English) is largely centered around shapes to convey what things are- a hallmark of OLPC's goal of making the devices accessible to people who might not be literate in any language. The machine comes packed with a whole bunch of software essentials you would expect in a linux distribution, and even some simple games to go with it.
I'm very excited to have this one in working order in the WCC inventory, as this is a really neat piece of hardware and history all rolled into one. This was a very ambitious project at the time, with a design that is unique to the project at hand- while there have been plenty of "rugged" laptops designed for kids, the XO-1 is in a very narrow field of machines designed to be given away all over the planet- there aren't too many other machines like it. Side by side with our Apple eMate 300 you can really see the difference in design ideas based on where the computers were headed.
In short, I think this will be a great addition to our future show lineup, both as an oddity many haven't seen before, and as an example of what "educational" machines looked like more than a decade ago.
Pictured above is a "One Laptop Per Child" (OLPC) model XO-1 laptop. Developed by the One Laptop Per Child foundation, the goal was straightforward but ambitious- develop a laptop robust and cheap enough that it could be mass produced and then delivered into the hands of children the world over- with an emphasis on developing countries without much technology literacy. Setting off in 2005, their design team did just that with the XO- creating a machine powerful enough to be useful, rugged enough to survive rougher than normal conditions, and cheap enough to be mass produced at a level that the devices could be given away to children that could use them.
The project itself was funded by a number of corporate heavy-hitters (like Google), philanthropic donors, and even a few governments. The XO was indeed mass produced, and the computers did reach the world. All the same, even at their reduced manufacturing cost, the loss was still greater than OLPC could endure long term. Efforts were made to create successor machines, but these fizzled, and OLPC shuttered in 2014.
But, what about this neat little machine? The XO-1 is an attractive, lightweight, and surprisingly rugged-feeling little device. Most of the computer "guts" are in the monitor portion, which is reversible like a 2-in-1 laptop. It runs a custom version of linux that (while in English) is largely centered around shapes to convey what things are- a hallmark of OLPC's goal of making the devices accessible to people who might not be literate in any language. The machine comes packed with a whole bunch of software essentials you would expect in a linux distribution, and even some simple games to go with it.
I'm very excited to have this one in working order in the WCC inventory, as this is a really neat piece of hardware and history all rolled into one. This was a very ambitious project at the time, with a design that is unique to the project at hand- while there have been plenty of "rugged" laptops designed for kids, the XO-1 is in a very narrow field of machines designed to be given away all over the planet- there aren't too many other machines like it. Side by side with our Apple eMate 300 you can really see the difference in design ideas based on where the computers were headed.
In short, I think this will be a great addition to our future show lineup, both as an oddity many haven't seen before, and as an example of what "educational" machines looked like more than a decade ago.
