We've been following the story of the One Laptop Per Child project since its inception. For several years the team, spun out of MIT, have been working on an innovative low-cost laptop for use in developing countries. and now the production lines are starting to get rolling.
It's interesting, then, to read a review by 12-year-old "SG" over at Ed Felten's Freedom to Tinker blog:
My expectations for this computer were, I must admit, not very high. But it completely took me by surprise. It was cleverly designed, imaginative, straightforward, easy to understand... useful and simple, entertaining, dependable, really a "stick to the basics" kind of computer.
A few provisos, of course: although as a youngster SG is the right age for the so-called "$100 laptop", he or she is clearly not the target market for OLPC's products. Felten is a professor of computer science at Princeton, so it's likely that the kid (the child of a friend) is well-educated in Western terms and highly computer literate.
There are some issues with this beta version - speed and power consumption among them - but worth a read for some insight.
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