Skip navigation EPAM
GET IN TOUCH
  • GET IN TOUCH
  • Search
    Enter your search query or select one from the list of frequent searches below. Use up and down arrows to review and enter to select.

    Frequent Searches

    • Blockchain
    • Cloud
    • DevOps
    • Open Source
    • RPA
    • Automation
    • Digital Risk Management
    • Contact

MIT Media Lab: One Laptop Per Child

PROJECT

CLIENT

MIT Media Lab

SERVICES

  • Platform & Product Development
  • CX Strategy & Design

INDUSTRY

  • Education

Millions of schoolchildren don’t have access to the educational resources that provide them with the right start in life.

The device had to be robust enough for the extreme environments in which these children live, and it could cost no more than $100 to make.

Challenge

Millions of schoolchildren don’t have access to the educational resources that provide them with the right start in life. The MIT Media Lab and Nicholas Negroponte set out to address this need by expanding access to information through an affordable device that could be distributed to children throughout the world.

Tasked with designing the initial prototype for this device, Continuum faced three challenges: First, the laptop needed to address the wide range of use requirements for children in developing countries. The device also had to be robust enough for the extreme environments in which these children live, and it could cost no more than $100 to make.

RESEARCH & INSIGHTS

Infused with Emotion

As always, Continuum’s team carefully considered the target users—in this case, young children. We gave special attention to the emotional aspects of the device. Rather than designing a product that looked inexpensive or secondhand, we focused on making the laptop visually compelling and unique, something children would be excited to use. The laptop’s bright green color was intended to invoke a sense of cheer, while the dual antennae that enabled the network connection resembled a person with arms reaching overhead—a universal sign of joy.

RESEARCH & INSIGHTS

Notable Endorsements

Over the course of the device’s development, MIT Media Lab presented the hundred-dollar laptop at various events around the globe. The laptop garnered praise and support from a few well-known names—Google’s Sergei Brin; former Massachusetts governor, Mitt Romney; and then-pontiff, Pope Benedict XVI.

RESEARCH & INSIGHTS

A Design Ahead of its Time

While the original task was to build a laptop, the product that emerged after many rounds of prototyping included features not found in laptops of the time. For example, the final prototype was foldable in design. It could be propped open like a book or laid flat with the screen facing upward. Though this project took place before the introduction of tablet devices, the hundred-dollar laptop’s design anticipated what was to come in computer technology.

01 / 03

Solution

Inspired by the technical and budgetary challenges of the project, and motivated by a deep compassion for the target user, Continuum collaborated with MIT Media Lab to create an award-winning prototype of the hundred-dollar laptop.

Not only is the device fun to use, but it consumes very little power. It’s also durable and waterproof, with affordable components that are easy to obtain if replacements are needed.

In 2005, the mandate set forth by the MIT Media Lab—to create a fully functioning and highly robust laptop for just $100—was a bold one. When adjusted for today’s technology and inflation rate, this equates to building an equally sophisticated device for $25.

    Results

    Continuum’s contribution springboarded the establishment of a non-profit organization called One Laptop per Child (OLPC). This non-profit, created and led by MIT Media Lab founder Nicholas Negroponte, develops a low-cost laptop called the “XO Laptop” to revolutionize how we educate the world's children. Since its founding, OLPC has produced XO laptops for more than 2 million children worldwide. 

    RELATED PROJECTS