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UN Internet Summit High Points

Posted by Zonk on from the my-favorite-world-spanning-body dept.

hotsauce writes "Negroponte has unveiled his $100 laptop with Kofi Annan at the UN Internet summit. The plan is to have several countries, both rich and poor, sign up for at least a million each of these machines within a year. Many countries and companies seem interested. Also at the UN summit, the ITU is predicting an internet of things, and warning that social safeguards need to be put in place, as the BBC gleefully talks about employers watching workers via RFID tags." From the article: "Although children will be able to interact with each other through the machines, education was still the priority for the laptops. But by using mesh networking, the vision is for children to interact while doing homework, and even share homework tips on a local community scale. "

7 of 187 comments (clear)

  1. What about the low points? by Noryungi · · Score: 5, Interesting
    There are a few things about this summit that need to be reported as well:
    1. Robert Menard, the President of 'Reporters without Borders', an ONG dedicated to preserving reporters, freedom of speech and freedom of the press worldwide, has been denied access to Tunisia, under the pretext that his organization protested the imprisonment of a Tunisian journalist.
    2. Coincidentally (or not) Reporters without Borders has published its list of the Top 15 Internet black holes: the top 15 countries who try to limit access to an uncensored Internet.


    Here are the top 15 most repressive countries when it comes to the Internet, according to Reporters without Borders:

    Saudi Arabia, Belarus, Burma, China, North Korea, Cuba, Iran, Libya, Maldives, Nepal, Uzbekhistan, Syria, Tunisia, Turkmenistan and Vietnam.

    Remember: it's a free Internet as long as you fight for its freedom.
    --
    The right to offend is far more important than the right not to be offended. (Rowan Atkinson)
  2. Re:Where can I get... by saforrest · · Score: 2, Interesting

    ...an RFID tag for my tinfoil hat?

    So I guess then you might not be particularly reassured to know that Negroponte's brother is the U.S. Director of National Intelligence? :)

  3. Who will teach the teachers by pilot-programmer · · Score: 2, Interesting

    Here in The US, a technologically above-average country, classroom technology is going to waste because the college educated teachers are too lazy or not smart enough to learn how to apply the technology.

    In a poor third world country, where the standards are significantly lower for instructors, who expects the students and instructors will somehow instinctively know how to use these computers for educational benefit? If they are networked the kids will very quickly figure out how to IM answers during tests, but only if they first learn to type.

  4. It's best feature... by Billosaur · · Score: 2, Interesting

    ...is the hand-crank. I can see kids in poor African villages spending their days out in the sun, cranking furiously while trying to play WoW. How much you want to bet that as you crank the handle you hear tinny carnival music and a small Bill Gates head pops out of the top.

    My problem is, where is all the infrastructure going to come from? At some point a lot of these places need Internet connectivity, and frankly not everyone in the Third World has convenient access to electricity, let alone a wireless Internet connection. Bill Gates better get out his checkbook.

    Do not get me wrong, I'm all for it, as long as it is done right and not as some panacea to appease the general populace. I think a lot of kids in the Third World, or anywhere for that matter, would get a better education if they had a) decent homes, b) clean water, c) lots of food, and d) schools with books and teachers.

    --
    GetOuttaMySpace - The Anti-Social Network
  5. I'll buy one! by ksp · · Score: 4, Interesting

    I'll buy one for $200-300 and they can give 1-2 for free to kids in developing countries. I can afford paying more than them if I want a fun little gadget terminal to play around with. A school in a third world country probably needs pencils, paper, crayons, chalk and books instead of this. Set up a webshop where we geeks can buy these and use the income to donate computers to those who can't afford them. It won't finance the entire project, but it could help?

    --
    What is the sound of one hand clapping?
    cat /dev/null > /dev/audio
    1. Re:I'll buy one! by iphayd · · Score: 3, Interesting

      Actually, this isn't a bad model...

      For every one an american/european school buys for $300, two get shipped to a third world country. However... They all automatically have an email/IM attached, with links for all three laptops to message each other out of the box. This way, the schoolchildren in america/europe can pen pal with the children were given laptops due to their $200.

  6. Re:More info on $100 laptop by koi88 · · Score: 2, Interesting


    Hmmm... reminds me a little of Apple's eMate. Which, by the way, might have been an ideal platform to build a cheap laptop computer.
    Does anybody remember this amazing little thing?

    --

    I don't need a signature.