The $100 Computer

According to CNet , a $100 Linux-based computer may not be too far in the future. An Indian company called Novatium has stripped-down home computers in the pipeline that look to take PCs to the remaining 5 billion people on the planet. From the article:

Using Linux applications and software from Jain’s Netcore Solutions, these machines will be tweaked so that multiple people can use them. This would reduce the cost of memory in the server that does the bulk of the computing work for the Novatium thin clients on its network.

The article has ideas for 3 articles worth; it talks about Linux-based computers, cheap/thin computers, networked/grid applications, single-purpose computers and the problem of reaching the less-affording sections of the population.