By: David Armano
The screen you are looking at is the actual OS called Sugar which runs on the "$100.00 Laptop" you've most likely heard about. The Laptop is aimed at bringing personal computing and Internet connectivity to impoverished nations. It can establish a " special Wi-Fi network" by connecting to other computers. The user can interact with friends on this network and even get invitations to participate in their activities.
Click image to enlarge.
Check out how the OS is described via BusinessWeek:
"Ever since the first Apple Macintosh computer was launched in 1984, the user interfaces of personal computers have been designed essentially the same way—with the office desktop as the visual metaphor. Instead, Sugar begins with an “XO Man” icon representing the individual at the center of the screen. The user starts “activities” such as e-mail or photo editing by clicking on icons positioned on the frame around the display."
And here is a picture of the device:
I'm really interested in seeing how this ends up working. The interface itself is so different from what we've gotten used to through Apple and Microsoft. It's almost totally iconic/visual and instead of adding detail and depth, it removes it. The user navigates through a series of clicks, zooming in and out.
My question is—will this ultra simplification impact our own high end/high tech devices? I wish I could play around with one of these and see for myself.
Original Post: http://darmano.typepad.com/logic_emotion/2007/03/give_me_some_su.html
