American $150 Laptop?

Nicholas Negroponte and company have been working on the $100 OLPC laptop aimed at children in developing companies. Now, an Atlanta company, Lite Appliances, is putting together a US$150 laptop called the LiteComputer.

The laptop would have no brand name processors or software. It won’t even have a hard drive, operating instead on web-based software such as Google Docs and Spreadsheets. It will have a built-in custom Internet browser, media player, IM (Instant Messaging) client and VoIP soft client. It will have USB ports, so keyboards, mice, flash memory and hard drives could be added.

In the late 1990s, when someone mentioned diskless computers, I remember thinking how could that be possible. But with so many web2.0 applications popping up all over the Internet, it’s now more than possible, it’s happening. In fact, I regularly use Zoho’s ZohoWriter instead of my paid-for Microsoft Office software. I also use Google Calendar, Neptune and others every day.

Now, with a laptop like the LiteComputer, to be available in mid-2007, there’ll like be a huge shift to virtual operating systems. Not to mention, such an affordable laptop will be a boon to many school children whose parents are reluctant to buy, or cannot afford, a more expensive computer.