This summer I will be teaching a class of Jr High and High Schoolers in La Mision Mexico how to repair and refurbish computers. My end goal is for them to each walk away with a computer of their own construction and also to have the skills to step up and repair computers for friends and family.
Hopefully this will be the factor launching them on the path to a STEM based career. We have enough broken computers to cobble this together and it's learning how to repair what's in front of you, that I really want to drive home.
Now imagine my shock when I found that Olimex is releasing a 100% DIY Linux laptop including full hardware designs and even the cad files and PCB layouts.
Now obviously a completely from scratch build is going to be beyond the reach of a class that's just seeking to get these kids prepped for an A+ Certification. But to me, this is extremely exciting. I've got contacts here in Mexico that could build these as kits rather inexpensively.
But here's some icing on the cake. According to zdnet, Olimex is one step ahead of me and also selling component based kits that you assemble yourself. The cost for a complete kit? $240 USD!
Look, I realize that this is Chromebook territory in terms of system specs, but it's also Chromebook territory in price and you get the satisfaction of knowing that every single thing in that laptop was put there by you. You get to know what each part is doing and how and why.
This little guy is perfect for 99% of users out there. If you're the type of parent who wants to encourage your child to know exactly how things work, I'd highly recommend getting this. Heck I'm getting one on my next payout and will post a DIY guide if this post sees enough upvotes.
Food for thought, I've been waiting for something like this for a long time and I'm super excited to see it. If I can find a way to make these kits a little more affordable for these kids ($240 USD is more than most adults here make in a month), I think I'll add it as a bonus curriculum item to the computer diagnosis and repair class.
I mean how cool would it be if we could do this as a community and get these kids to build their own steem powered laptops to earn a little extra income blogging on steemit.
So here's my question to the community...
I'll be in La Mision next week updating and repairing the computer labs which are basically non-existent at the schools there. If 
Let me know your thoughts in the comments below.
More info on the DIY laptop...
http://www.zdnet.com/article/diy-linux-laptop-build-your-own-for-240-with-fully-open-source-olimex-teres-i/
https://www.olimex.com/Products/DIY%20Laptop/resources/TERES-I.pdf
This post is 100% steem powered!