AIESEC International Blog

I just went to the launch of the famous MIT Media Lab "100 Dollar Laptop". Just wonderful.



I want one more than you can imagine. Even though it is designed and developed for the worlds poorest children, it has some features that are wonderful, regardless of economic status.

First, you charge the battery of the thing by winding up the bright yellow crank handle on the side. 10 minutes of winding up gets you 1 hour of battery. Anyone who has experienced a flat laptop battery with no option for charging - on trains and planes, in cafes and parks, wherever you were that day when you forgot to bring your charger....You all will understand just how awesome being able to hand charge the laptop would be.

Second, it uses flash memory for a hard drive, rather than the typical magnetic storage disk. This means that the thing loads up instantly, rather than slowly booting up. It also makes the computer ridiculously light - it feels like it is just a plastic case with nothing inside.

Third, it is "ruggedised" on the outside, designed to be totally unbreakable and waterproof. You can throw this thing in a river and then run over it with a speedboat and your game of Solitaire would still be going when you fished it out and dried it off. For someone like me who slowly destroys everything he owns through accidental dropping, knocking over, saturating or sitting on, this is a gift from above.

Finally, it is bright green, with a bright yellow crabk handle. Finally, someone makes a colourful laptop! Seriously, why is electronic stuff always grey, white or black? I want a pretty laptop, and this thing delivers.

I seriously would have bought one of these things right there and then, if they were for sale. For 100 dollars, it is too good to be true. The fact that by 2010, hundreds of millions of the worlds poor children will have one is truly inspirational, and fills me with hope (and a tiny bit of jealousy....)