What if a computer can be available at $12? A new project is under processing which will launch the cheapest called computer organized by a group of MIT graduates and current students, According to a Boston Herald article, the price will be $12.
It will be good news to those who are unable to invest big money in buying a computer or laptop. Although computer prices are drop to large extent since its invention, but still it is a big investment for many people especially of developing countries.
The computer will be based on Apple II architecture which the Indians plug into their TV. The goal is to upgrade these boxes with Internet access via cell phone tethering and to add on-board storage to allow for the saving of programs and other data. The team has already contacted Apple II enthusiasts to program for the machines.
While upgrading antiquated hardware might not seem very useful of an idea to folks who quad-core CPUs running in excess of 2GHz, the student team is thinking that, if the technology was good enough for them to learn how to type and learn basic computer skills on, it will work for the rest of the world.
Introduced in 1977, the Apple II was engineered by Steve Wozniak who is tagged by the father of personal computing by some people. The machine ran a MOS Technology 6502 processor that ran at 1MHz with a 12kB ROM.
The exact cost of the computer is not known at present but it is expected to be a fair price. The news of research for a laptop at $100 is in air for some time. The team pointed out that for the price of one laptop, a school could fill a computer lab with ten of these machines. This directly means an affordable price tag on this upcoming machine.
