Tablets airdrop onto remote villages

Nonprofit project One Laptop Per Child (OLPC) has revealed it is planning to deliver not laptops, but touchscreen tablet computers to remote villages in developing countries around the world.

According to a report from Ars Technica, OLPC has downsized its original laptop project to focus on lighter, more energy-efficient tablet technology. The nonprofit will provide its own brand of tablet, the XO-3, to children who might not otherwise have access to such technology.

And for those not yet convinced of the tablet's portability, Ars Technica reports that OLPC plans to deliver the technology in Rambo-esque fashion—by dropping them from helicopters. The villagers will then be responsible for distributing and supporting the mobile devices.

Ars Technica notes that OLPC has fallen on hard times in recent years, and has been forced to cut staff and revamp its strategy to equip millions of children around the world with modern technology. However, the affordability and portability of the tablet may prove to be a game-changer, allowing OLPC to distribute a technology that could be even more convenient for remote villages than laptop computers.