$40 computer looking for users

Now, this is interesting:  

Marvell Technology Group is counting on an army of computer engineers and hackers to answer that question. It has created a “plug computer.” It’s a tiny plastic box that you plug into an electric outlet. There’s no display. But there is an Ethernet jack to connect to a home network and a U.S.B. socket for attaching a hard drive, camera or other device. Inside is a 1.2 gigahertz Marvell chip, called an application processor, running a version of the Linux operating system.

All this can be yours for $99 today and probably for under $40 in two years.

One obvious--to me--application is to bundle this mighty trinket with a handful of USB drives replete with targeted learning resources, ranging from Web pages to simulations to the inescapable test-prep packages. Instant content server!

For countries such as Barbados or Trinidad and Tobago, which are trying hard to wring value out of high-priced but not-that-functional investments in computers in schools, this simple add-on could deliver a big increase in utility. Curriculum packages might address middle-school science, high-school biology, chemistry and physics. In Barbados, where laptops on carts get moved into and out of classrooms as needed, a portable plug-in server would integrate nicely.