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Personal Growth — January 10, 2012

Hand-Cranked Tablet Computer

At this week’s Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas, more than 50 new tablet computers will be introduced, but only one is designed to bring education to the world’s poorest countries.

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What’s the Latest Development?

Only one tablet computer at this year’s Consumer Electronics Show is designed to bring literacy to the world’s poor, and to cope with electricity shortages, it is powered by a hand crank. The tablet can run a Linux interface or Google’s Android and has a solar powered case to charge the battery. “Each hour the case spends in full sun can deposit enough energy for two hours of tablet use into the case’s battery.” The tablet will not be massed produce; its price will depend on how many orders are received.

What’s the Big Idea?

The tablet was developed by the creators of the One Laptop Per Child initiative which seeks to bring education to the underdeveloped world through inexpensive technology. In 2008, the company launched its XO laptop (pictured), which is also powered by a hand crank, and roughly two million have been shipped. The initiative relies on countries who are active about bringing new education technology to their citizens. The tablet’s specifications, length of battery life and screen display, will depend on what individual countries want.

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