The Speculist has been following Nicholas Negroponte's $100 laptop project for awhile now.

I applaud the motivation - to close the digital divide between developing nations and the West. But, as I suggested last December, the free market is overtaking the project.

India's Ministry of Human Resource Development (HRD) certainly thinks so. They've turned down Negroponte's offer. Incredibly, because the $100 laptop is too expensive.

NEW DELHI: Having rejected Nicholas Negroponte’s offer of $100 laptops for schoolchildren, HRD ministry’s idea to make laptops at $10 is firmly taking shape with two designs already in and public sector undertaking Semiconductor Complex evincing interest to be a part of the project.

So far, the cost of one laptop, after factoring in labour charges, is coming to $47 but the ministry feels the price will come down dramatically considering the fact that the demand would be for one million laptops.

“The cost is encouraging and we are hopeful it would come down to $10.

When the $100 laptop project was first announced I wondered why we couldn't have a $100 laptop in this country too. They would be especially useful as semi-disposable learning tools for kids. But Negroponte's project was organized as a charity for the developing world. The project really didn't have cheap laptops for the US market in mind.

But this latest news makes me think that we'll see super-cheap laptops in this country soon. The Indian government believes they can get the price down from $47 per unit to $10 via economies of scale. Markets outside of India - including in the US - could help provide the scale.

Prediction: a $10 laptop-for-kids with the purchase of a Happy Meal.