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By David Rothman

SoloMIT’s $100 laptop project isn’t the only effort to bring computing to the Third World masses. The photo to the left shows the sun- and Linux-powered Solo Computer. The basic RAM is just 32MB, but you can go up to 128MB, enough to run OpenOffice. Storage can be between 256Mb and a gig. As with the MIT project, cost issues might arise. But as folks observed on the Digital Divide Network‘s e-mail list, the Solo looks like one cool machine. Hey, I wonder if there’s a way that 800×600 screen (sizes available from 8.4 to 14.1 inches) could serve as an e-book tablet. Important detail: “The Solo is designed for assembly in Third World countries close to its intended market. The construction is deliberately simple, based on a wooden sub-frame into which slide all the electronic modules and screen.”

 
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