Efforts to furnish developing countries with low cost laptops began in the 1990s, with official organization launch dates not occurring until 2004. As laptop technology surged in recent years, the concept of producing a US$100 laptop has become a feasible reality. Today, a number of organizations are bringing the idea to fruition, both in the name of real development and real opportunism, which tend to go hand in hand.
Developing nations of the world benefit from the competition by having more options to choose, but the real question is, but do the developed nations benefit as well?
Currently, global internet penetration is at 17.23 percent of the world's population, leaving close to 5.5 billion people outside of the net, according to statistics from the California-based AMB global communications corporation.
While this might appear to be a relatively low figure, this is after developing countries' internet penetration rates increased seven-fold from their 1999 levels, with some countries such as China increasing more than 10-fold.
With figures like these, developed countries have set their sights on this enormous potential market.
While many initiatives trying to bring computer technology to the developing world are non-profit, it would be an error to conclude they and their partners will not enjoy residual benefits.
While programs like One Laptop Per Child (OLPC) are non-profit ventures, some of its partners are not. Quanta, the manufacturer of OLPC's laptops, is planning to earn a "small" profit from its involvement with OLPC, and it is but one of the many affiliates of OLPC's network, according to a report by Technewsworld.com.
Simply put, while OLPC itself may not profit from the sales of its computers, some of the companies associated with it will, and that is just the first in a series of benefits the developed world can expect to reap in this "non-profit" themed marketplace.
Additional benefits for the developed world are derived from things such as the cost of setting up the computers in-country, maintenance, teacher training and perhaps most importantly internet access and programs. True, some of these areas can be addressed by the developing country, but others - like maintenance and internet access - will require input from developed nations.
An article on olpcnews.com calculates the final price of setup, training, maintenance an internet access for five years as reaching nearly US$900 per laptop. While the figures used and the accuracy of the article's final estimate are controversial at best, if the actual costs are even one-third of this estimate it would triple the initial cost of the US$100 laptop.
Implicit in the sales speech of low cost laptops is the ability of the computers to access the internet; however, getting this access to remote areas in the world's least developed countries will be anything but non-profit.
As Wayan Vota, editor of One Laptop Per Child News has said, "Negroponte [OLPC's founder] says they will have internet connection somehow, but the reality of internet connectivity in the developing world is that it's very case-specific: In Brazil it's cheap, but in Mali it's very expensive." In order to set up this internet access, and perhaps one day WIMax, the poorest nations of the world will look to the industrialized to meet their needs.
Along with profitable opportunities in setting up internet access, industrialized nations will also benefit from the distribution of the low cost computers through maintenance costs.
While all of the laptops being produced claim to be rugged and easy to fix and maintain, not everyone is convinced. This may lead to a market for repairing the low-cost laptops, which if OLPC meets its goal to distribute 500 million units within five years, could be a huge source of profit for high tech companies. It is also worth noting that OLPC has not announced a plan
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