I can't see this as ever making it as a cheap OLPC. That being said, this is getting close to what I have been waiting for to have sitting on my coffee table.

I have a Tablet PC next to my couch that I grab only once and awhile to look up something on the net that I see on TV. It is too big to leave on the table in front of me all the time. Not only that, I forget what I wanted to look up by the time it boots up.

I have been considering a UMPC to leave on the coffee table - it is small enough. But the screen is to small to remote desktop to my other computers comfortably.

I can see this sitting on the coffee table, so I can pick it up easily to:

> Browse TV listings ala TV Guide digest size

> Quickly look up something I just saw on TV

> Change songs on my HTPC (from anywhere in the house)

> Take it outside and beam music to my patio bluetooth speakers

> Control my lights, heat, A/C and all home automation from the couch

> Do VOIP speakerphone or bluetooth headset

> Change channels on my satillite box and program it at DirecTV online

> View movie reviews to decide what to watch that night

The more I think about it, the more desireable it seems as the ultimate coffee table fixture (well, other than a Microsoft surface tiltable coffee table with a ledge at the bottom)

Note to manufactures: Is it to much to ask for a simple device that does all that out of the box? ;)

Hasn't it occurred to anyone at OLPC that if touchscreen keyboards truly were a feasible and desirable option, Apple (purveyors of style over value) would have gone with this option on their laptops years ago? I can see some benefits in that you wouldn't need to manufacture different keysets for each country, but the other problems will far outweigh this.

(Just so no-one thinks I'm trying to turn this into an Apple-bashing fest, I'm typing this on a MacBook :p)

"The OLPC project said in a conference press release that the XO-2 PC's power consumption target is one watt and its price objective is $75."

http://www.physorg.com/news130521170.html

These people never learn, do they? Now it's going to be a *75-dollar* laptop?

What a ridiculous, recurring joke.

Touchscreen keyboard.
No.

It's an intriguing design (Nintendo DS got fat eating the iPhone). But I certainly hope they don't expect anyone, even kids, to do any kind of extensive typing on a touchscreen. Ouch. Hopefully they'll have a cheap USB external keyboard option.

The XO 2.0 also looks like it'll be about half the size of the current machine, since Negroponte believes the first-gen OLPC is a little too big and a little too heavy.

So this Second-gen would be a little too expensive huh?

Go back and check your proposed statement about OLPC program plz.

wildly unnecessary, negroponte.

I think a sensible business decision would've been to keep this under wraps, rather than unveil it. After all, you need to A) Focus on selling OLPC 1, and B) Prevent people from waiting for OLPC 2.

See: Apple.