‘$100 laptop’ runs into more murky waters in Nigeria
CHIDIEBERE NWANKWO
businessdayonline.com
After suffering a major setback in the Nigerian market through the termination of purchase agreement between Nigeria and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) Media Lab, facilitators of the One Laptop Per Child (OLPC) project, the project has received another major set back.
This time, OLPC has been sued for an alleged patent infringement by Lagos Analysis Corp (Lancor). According to a report, Lancor alleges that OLPC used without permission, the company’s design for a multilingual keyboard design.
Ade Oyegbola, chief executive officer and founder was quoted as saying that Lancor brought the suit in Nigeria because that is where the design is patented, but notes that Lancor also expects to sue in the United States .
Oyegbola says his company worked for several years to develop the Konyin Nigeria Multilingual Keyboard. Some observers say the suit is nothing more than a ploy designed to drag royalty fees from Nicholas Negroponte’s One Laptop Per Child Foundation.
Recently, government officials opted for Intel’s Classmate PC over the OLPC laptop, also known as XO.
The laptop initially tagged $100 laptop because of its proposed cost of $100 (about N12,800) has now had its cost moved up to $188 (about N24,064). The project has received growing condemnation from some stakeholders who noted that the quality is not up to standard. (more…)
The BBC recently did a slideshow on their site showing kids with their laptops. Click here.
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