OLPC’s Second Act Coming in 2009

Picture this: an elegant portable electronic device with dual touchscreens that can be transformed into virtual keyboards, a hinge to allow it to be used horizontally or vertically (like an electronic book), that is extremely energy efficient (running on just one Watt!).  Sounds cool, right?  Well, you’re looking at it.  It’s the XO-2, representing the next generation of Cambridge, MA-based One Laptop Per Child’s (OLPC) XO laptop for children in the developing world, with a proposed launch date of 2010.  Why did the organization decide to announce it so early?  According to founder Nicholas Negroponte, formerly of MIT’s Media Lab, it was to essentially stimulate the market, in the hope that it might actually be copied by other companies, so as to bring costs down, as well as widen the effort in general, to introduce the latest technologies to educational programs in developing countries throughout the world .

Following the introduction begun last year, of the XO into countries including Peru, Uruguay, Mongolia, Haiti, Rwanda, Mexico, Cambodia, Ethiopia, Ghana, Iraq, Afghanistan, and even the US and Canada, OLPC determined that it had to redesign the device and lower its price (to $75, if possible), in order to make it even more accessible for young children.  If the proposed enhancements indeed come to fruition, the XO-2 will certainly have a lot going for it, with the added benefit that it may aid the design and development of super efficient electronics for the developed world as well, especially in light of our ever strained electrical grid.  While you wait for this impressive device to hit the market, OLPC will reintroduce their laptop donation program later this Fall, in case you are interested in supporting their efforts.

For further information, please visit OLPC Wiki for updates and information on how the project is proceeding.

Making Greenburg Greener While Improving Their Community

Images from the National Geographic Society. Video from KTKA 49 ABC News.

Students at Kansas State University are taking the initiative to make Greenburg more sustainable while rebuilding their community. Their effort is being called Project Cubed and it aims to bring “pavilion cubes of sustainable living to Greenburg”. Every cube they are creating is eco-friendly. One might recycle rain water while another provides a place for gathering bottles and cans for recycling. Perhaps the best aspect of the project is that the students are focused on carefully designing and constructing each cube with the equally important purpose of being able to withstand severe tornado weather. The project was created in response to the massive F5 category tornado that ripped through Greensburg in 2007. It flattened the town and caused 8 deaths. With winds of 205 miles an hour (330 kilometers) the tornado was the first first recorded F5 storm since 1999 in the US.

Kansas State University Architecture student, Melody Meek mentioned that ”it’s one way to connect the world of architecture with people in our community. Design can really help improve lives. This could start to lay the groundwork of how we can respond to natural disasters such as tornadoes.” Their green initiative has been in the planning and development stages for 2 semesters. The students of Project Cubed are scheduled to deliver the finished product to the Greenburg community on the 4th of May 2008, the anniversary date of last year’s devastating tornado which destroyed so much of their local architecture and infrastructure.