Re: [colorforth] Hello - and where to begin?

["M. Edward (Ed) Borasky" <znmeb@xxxxxxxxxxx>]

Albert van der Horst wrote:
> On Sat, Jan 19, 2008 at 12:20:41AM -0700, vaded@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx wrote:
>> I realize the OLPC OX exists, but are we not doing a disservice by not
>> pushing for a forth processor based equivalent?  Mr. Fox has spoken
>> about
>> producing a computer that could cost much, much less than an OLPC OX.
> 
> We do Forth a disservice by not pushing for OLPC right now.
> I would very much like to buy one, but I have found no way to do
> so from the Netherlands.
> Who on this group has one? (Ray St. Marie, apparently).

1. So far, I'm the only one on the list who has publicly admitted XO
ownership. ;)

2. I think the Give One Get One program is going to start in Europe some
time this year. And I believe you can get them on eBay, although I don't
recommend it.

3. I don't see how you can possibly make a *computer* that costs less
than an XO using Forth chips. The economics just aren't there. First of
all, the Geode in the XO, while only running at 433 MHz, is a full x86
chip -- it has all the Pentium instructions plus MMX and 3Dnow!
capabilities. It will run Linux -- just about any flavor of Linux as
long as you have the kernel and drivers right. And it will run any Linux
application that will fit in 256 MB of RAM.

Second, there just isn't application software written for Forth chips.
You can't sell a "computer" that doesn't have a word processor, browser,
email, wireless, ebook reader, etc.

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