One Laptop Per Child initiative
The article at http://www.infoworld.com/article/05/11/17/HN$100laptop_1.html explains the One Laptop Per Child initiative, which aims to produce a $100 laptop computer for distribution to children in developing countries. It features a hand crank that generates the two watts of power the machine needs to operate, it uses a Wi-Fi mesh to connect to the Internet, and runs open-source software. The machine can be folded in different ways to serve as a computer, electronic book or media player. All of the components are chosen for low power usage and low cost to make the portable computers as inexpensive as possible.
If this laptop project gets off the ground, it has interesting possibilities for the Church. Remember President Kimball’s 1974 talk to the Regional Representatives (“When the World Will Be Converted,” Ensign, Apr. 1984, p. 3) where he talked about the enormous potential of the transistor radio and how the Church should use it to broadcast the gospel message? This is light years ahead of the possibilities of the transistor radio. Have we, as a Church, even tapped the potential use of the transistor radio, let alone the possibility of rich media delivered over a $100 laptop?
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