Designers on quest to build $12 computer

“We see this as a model that could increase economic opportunities for people in developing countries,” said Lomas, part of a team that’s trying to develop a $12 computer at this month’s MIT International Development Design Summit. “If you just know how to type, that can be the difference between earning $1 an hour instead of $1 a day.”

He and others at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology symposium hope to soup up the systems – which are based on old Apple II computers – with rudimentary Web access and more.