[geeks] One (Windows) Laptop Per Child

[Charles Shannon Hendrix]

Sat, 30 Sep 2006 @ 20:10 +0300, Geoffrey S. Mendelson said:

> On Fri, Sep 29, 2006 at 03:06:15PM -0500, Lionel Peterson wrote:
> > >I think given the specs, the price is awfully high.
> 
> Go back and look at the specs for the handheld device I'm trying to
> bring to market. With an AMD 1gHz processor, and 1/4 VGA screen, I can
> build them in Q10k for about  $150 to $200, and Q10M, which is what
> a gaming device would be, for under $100, closer to about  $85. 

I'm not saying they are deliberately making the price too high, as I
realize it is difficult to cut costs and get something worth having.

However, the fact remains that the prices on even decent hardware is
falling all the time, so a lot of people will just decide to spend
another $100 and get a real laptop.

The other issue is that I don't see what people are going to run on it.
It lacks the power for a ton of software, and certainly lacks enough
storage and storage speed.

It will need people to write applications about like they write PDA
software, and I wonder if that will happen.

Expensive PDAs sell based on features and small size, and even then low
end laptops eat into their sales because some people start thinking
"Hmmm... for another $100 I can have a laptop with a big screen and a
keyboard".

A general purpose computer has more to live up to.


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