The One Laptop Per Child (OLPC) project, in which researchers have designed a laptop that costs approximately $100 and can be distributed to underprivileged children around the world, apparently has nothing on the Indian government. Its human resources department has launched a project to bring the cost of such a laptop down by a factor of ten, to $10 per laptop, per child.

The people behind the OLPC project had a hard enough time getting all of the necessary technologies packed into a small and rugged machine that can be used around the globe in any condition with or without line power for $100, so it'll be impressive to see what India comes up with. Almost certainly, the Indian government will axe features like the OLPC's hand-crank power and wifi/mesh-networking equipment in order to bring costs down, but whether or not the $10 laptop will actually be usable in the end remains to be seen. If it turns out to be a $10 speak-n-spell, it won't be much use in bridging the digital divide.

Even so, people were similarly skeptical about the OLPC when it was announced. When the first PCs started rolling off the assembly lines, running Linux and sporting all of the features that were promised for just a little over $100 each, people cheered. The Indian government claims to be finalizing two designs for the $10 laptop, and even if it's unsuccessful, it claims to have found a way to make the $100 laptop only $47 to produce. Either way, this could make it even more affordable to reach out and help underprivileged and uneducated children (and people of all ages) around the world. [ via NewLaunches ]