The $100 laptop has been a hot item of discussion in the computer world. Nicolas Negroponte, chairman of MIT's Media Laboratory, announced that he would undertake to create one in January, 2005 at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland. His efforts are just now coming to fruition. The goal is to provide children in third-world countries with "a window into the world and a tool with which to think". Dr. Negroponte's high-tech solution to the digital-divide is to produce and distribute 100 million one-size-fits-all laptops running Linux to people who can barely afford pencils and paper. Hmm. Won't desperately poor people be trading these little gems off in short order for more immediate necessities like food and medicine? Won't these machines eventually end up in the world's burgeoning computer garbage heaps along with so many other BIG ideas for changing the world that only resulted in BIG profits for BIG corporations? I think there is a better solution: the $74.16 laptop.

To paraphrase Jesus, that widely misunderstood prophet of simple living: Don't lay up for yourselves treasures on earth when you can find everything you need cheaply on eBay. The $22.50 laptop was out there waiting for me: a vintage Apple PowerBook 180 that a lady in Portland, Oregon wanted be rid of. Back in 1993 someone paid $4,110 for this baby (Computer equipment isn't exactly a solid long-term investment opportunity.) My "new" laptop arrived sporting a blazing 33MHz processor, a humongous 120 MB hard drive, 14 MB of RAM, and a speedy (for its time)14.4k modem. Okay, it was missing a power supply, the battery was shot, and there was one dead pixel in the screen. Not a big deal. Back to eBay. An AC power adapter cost $7.00 and a new battery ran me another $24.15. We are now up to $53.65, still a bargain any way you look at it. And, I have just saved this old 'book from being dumped in a landfill somewhere.

How does it compare to Negroponte's laptop. His has a 500MHz processor, 128 MB of RAM and 500MB of Flash memory instead of a hard drive, certainly a more capable machine. But, it has to be in order to run Red Hat Linux or most other current operating systems. Mine will happily run Apple's free System 7.5.5 which is much easier for children to use than any version of Linux is or ever will be.

The biggest difference between the two laptops is how they are powered. Mine requires being connected to the grid or a 12 volt automotive system. Negroponte's has a crank generator built right into the machine, certainly a nifty idea until you stop and think that a child is going to have to work this thing. Wouldn't it be more practical in third-world countries to have a pedal-powered generating system that could be used to power not only a computer, but other electrical devices as well? (Update: Maybe they took my suggestion.)