Nortel to Sponsor ''One Laptop per Child'' Initiative; Quanta to Build

Nortel announced today that it has become a corporate member of the "One Laptop per Child" initiative that was founded earlier this year by Nicholas Negroponte. It was announced on Wednesday that Quanta would build the machines.

This initiative (in case you haven't heard of it) was founded with the purpose of putting laptops with wireless connectivity into the hands of children in third world countries (and Massechussets) at a cost of less than $100.

The machines will run Linux and require little energy (turning a hand crank will be enough to power them). Connecting to the Internet will be possible through mesh networking. The first 5 million to 15 million units will get shipped to China, Brazil, India, Argentina, Egypt, Nigeria and Thailand.

Will it be a big success? Or a flat failure? Somewhere in between, I'm guessing. I'll keep an eye on the project for my readers, if I have any.