New $100 Laptop Invention to Hit Market

According to an article on CNN.Com, researchers at the MIT Media Lab are designing a durable labtop computer that will only cost $100. Project leader Nicholas Negroponte decided that kids around the world, especially in poverty areas, need this type of techonlogy in their lives. In order to cut costs on the computer, inventors created a hand crank to power it when there is no electricity availiable, used the AC adaptor as a carrying strap, and cased it with rubber so that it would be "virtually indestructable." It also has a 500-megahertz processer, a flash memory instead of a hard drive, and a WI-FI wireless connection in which each laptop would relay data to and from other devices, reducing the need for expensive base stations. The product is expected to be unveiled in November.

How will this new low-cost technology mesh with the U.S. economy? Global economy? How will big-time laptop producers like Dell and IBM react to this? How will they keep their customers happy?