'$100 laptop' production begins
Five years after the concept was first proposed, the so-called $100 laptop is poised to go into mass production.
Hardware suppliers have been given the green light to ramp-up production of all of the components needed to build millions of the low-cost machines.
The first machines should be ready to put into the hands of children in developing countries in October 2007.
Other critics asked whether there was a need for a laptop in countries which, they said, had more pressing needs such as sanitation, water and health care.
Professor Negroponte's response has always been the same: "It's an education project, not a laptop project."
And as time passed, even some of the critics changed have their stance. Earlier this month, Intel, which manufactures what was considered a rival machine, the Classmate PC, joined forces with OLPC.
clipped from: news.bbc.co.uk 