The utopian idea “One Laptop per Child”——at a price tag of just $100 per computer——is what the computer research team, at Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), envisioned. However, now the prestigious project‘s laptop——meant for the developing countries children——will cost $188. All thanks to the “currency fluctuations and rising costs of such components as nickel and silicon.” The price has been increasing, ever since the laptop, “OX”, entered the practical manufacturing run. A year back it was around $150, it increased to $176 and now the present stated cost is almost touching $190.

“XO” features an open-source interface, a sunlight-readable display, very low power consumption, in-built wireless networking; and a pull cord for recharging by hand. The Big Question that everyone is eager to know is “what will be “THE COST in the end?” When the project rolled out, the developing nations——mainly Argentina, Brazil, Libya, Nigeria and Thailand——had made tentative commitments “to put the computers into the hands of millions of students” (mentioned in The New York Times). What happens now, will they back out?

There are many questions that have cropped up because of the increased price. We will know the definite answers, only when the Taiwan's Quanta Computer Inc, the manufacturing company, starts shipping out the laptops.

During the earlier prototype days, Nicholas Negroponte, a prominent computer researcher, had said——answering a question related to making the XO laptops generally available to consumers——“Ours is really designed for developing nations——dusty, dirty, no or unreliable power and so on.”

At a price tag of almost $200, will OX reach the poor countries children and be part of their growing years? …We all know the answer.

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