Trouble with hand cranked power is that they tend to underestimate just how much cranking is necessary to power things. I bought a windup torch that had only three LEDs, work fine for about 6 months then gradually needed more and more winding at twelve months I had to walk along winding it, as the light would only stay on for about 10 seconds.
Anyway back to laptops... $100 isn't much to us but it's a huge amount to someone in the developing world (even if the student doesn't pay anything, someone has to foot the bill) giving stuff away for free never works.
An admirable concept but I think they need to look at exactly what they're trying to achieve and what' the best way to go about it. The current plan seems overly simple:- Education for all = give everyone a cheap laptop. I think this problem requires a more complex solution or at least build them with foot-cranked generators (I use my hands for typing).
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