[Printer Friendly Version]   [How to E-mail This Article to A Friend]

AROUND THE WORLD 2: MIT Producing Laptops for Children Worldwide

While it may be easy for most American students to have access to a computer, many children around the world do not. Researchers at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) want to change that.

Currently, researchers at MIT are devising a way to produce laptops that only cost around $100 to produce. Most laptops cost around $800 to $1,000, making it difficult for some people to own one.

Not only will these laptops be cost-efficient, but they will also be virtually indestructible. They will be able to fold up into the size of a lunchbox and come in a rubber casing, and they will also have a hand crank for use in geographic regions with no electricity.

MIT is working with a non-profit organization called One Laptop Per Child to bring these affordable and durable laptops to developing countries. Their plan is to have as many as 15 million laptops donated to children worldwide in countries like South Africa, Thailand, China, Brazil and Egypt in the next year.

The researchers and non-profit organizers believe that these laptops will benefit children worldwide and be highly educational. The idea for this program started after children from a village in Cambodia benefited from donated laptops.

--Written by Wendy Owen

Write your own story telling us what you think about this article!

Read AROUND THE WORLD 3: Children Not Protected By Immunization