One Laptop Per Child Gets 4 Million Laptop Order

An anonymous reader writes "DesktopLinux.com is reporting that four countries have together ordered 4 million low-cost, Linux-based laptops from the One Laptop Per Child (OLPC) project. The countries of Nigeria, Brazil, Argentina, and Thailand have each placed the 1 million unit orders."

Comments

Let the 419 jokes begin!!!

[lecithin]

"The countries of Nigeria, Brazil, Argentina, and Thailand have each placed the 1 million unit orders."

Dear Mike,

Thank you once again for finalizing the order. You will know that this transaction is 100% Guaranteed.

We will send our certified funds after the customs are paid by you. Please send the customs fee of $37,000,000 ($37*1 Million Units) via wire transfer to:

Barrister MUGO Gy PAN Oguami
419 Scam DEC
Lagos, Nigeria

>>Hi Mugo,
>>We have approved your order and are ready to ship. You mentioned a custom's fee that we are very ready to pay. Please let me know how much per unit we will need to send.

>>Thanks again for the business!!!

>>Mike Undundrum

good idea

[babtrek]

I really like that these countries have the determination to use linux laptops to help increase there education levels, it will benifit everyone. In the short term the production lines get busy making the laptops ready to be uses, and it will promote using open source software and Linux which could mean more and better tools out there for us eventually. But it could also breed us more scammers, damn them wasting so much of out time.

Re:good idea

[ronanbear]

4 million is a huge number of laptops. It represents about 10% of the annual worldwide laptop shipments. If these shipments actually occur in a reasonable timeframe it would have a massive effect on the worldwide computer market. It would effect component prices for OEMs. Imagine the headlines as Red Hat grab a larger proportion of the laptop market than Apple.

Re:good idea

[gsslay]

These people will have a choice between gaining literacy and skills, and maybe starting businesses to further their local economy, or gain literacy and skills to spam and scam once they learn that the rewards outweigh the risks for them.

How is this different from any new people anywhere in the world? Or is it just all those shifty, foreign people in developing nations you suspect as criminals in the making?

Interesting fact: the US (the world's richest nation) accounts for the majority of all spam, at 23.2%. "These people" have more to fear from the the outside world than you do from them.

But of course you're right. Let's keep the internet safe for the gullible rich, and out of the hands of wily poor people who, as we all know, have no morals and want to take our money. Keep 'em backward and ignorant I say.

Starving programmers

[dotslashdot]

What's next? Outsource to malnourished kids. All they get is a little cookie (or several, depending on their privacy settings.) You can pay them even less than the Indian & Chinese programmers since these kids don't need money for food. They can just eat the cookies without getting any cache.

Re:I guess only one thing can describe ...

[HotNeedleOfInquiry]

Only if they are clueless. Frankly, I'd be scared shitless that I'd have to deliver 1,000,000 computers for $1,000,000 when they costed me $1,500,000 to build.

In Other News:

[darkonc]

Bill Gates has just announced a whirlwind 4 nation third-world tour. Currently in Africa, supposedly on a safari . . . . .

Awesome

[kernelpanicked]

I have a lot of respect for this project and I'm glad to see it's working out seemingly well.

Random Thought:

Wonder if any of the large PC vendors are paying attention, When was the last time Dell or HP sold 1 million+ Windows boxes in one shot?

Re:Awesome

[darkenbinary]

I don't know if HP has sold a million+ PCs in one sale, but they do a lot of similar charitable work like this. They are pretty giving in comparison to many other corporate giants.

http://www.hp.com/hpinfo/globalcitizenship/gcrepor t/socialinvest.html

Linux share in the desktop market

[Anonymous Coward]

Is it just me or won't this mean Linux gains a significant user base that basically never have used anything else than Linux and will never have any reason for using anything else? This must be a big thorn in both Microsoft and Apple's (remember they offered to give away software for this project) side...

Re:Linux share in the desktop market

[miro f]

actually I believe the idea was to get the kids to actually teach themselves and learn about the real operating of a computer. I'm sure the linux stuff will be there (as well as the GUI). I imagine that they will have the option to go wherever they want with it.

Re:Linux share in the desktop market

[Anonymous Coward]

What are the implications of widespread Linux use in the Third World?

• Women and girls who were previously denied educational opportunities will be able to establish themselves as insular, boring, pedantic geeks on an equal footing with men
• The long-standing argument about vi versus emacs will be settled with a truckload of black market AK-47s
• In some cultures, bloated software will actually be considered more attractive
• Indian CS undergrads will be able to talk about how great the internet was in the good old days, before all the clueless n00bs arrived
• Third World businesses will have access to new markets for their agricultural produce, manufacturing services, and r3d H0+ z3r0-d4y w4R32
• The highways on the internet will not become more few

Re:Linux share in the desktop market

[pogson]

Some estimates of Linux desktops are around 30 millions. 4 million more in the coming year or so is a big relative increase. I expect many countries will wait a bit to see how these machines work before jumping in. It could start a fire.

In my part of the world, Canada, I have gone from installing a few GNU/Linux machines each year to doing 150 next month. At about half the cost of Windows, per seat, if the project works out (I do not see any obstacles), other schools and school divisions in my area are likely to switch to GNU/Linux. I will present a report at a school conference next spring, and if there is lots of interest, I could convert several schools next summer.

This makes more sense than India

[jeffsenter]

Well this follows the /. story on skepticism for OLPC in India. Brazil, Argentina, Thailand, and Nigeria are all substantially more wealthy than India on a per capita basis. India (with a lot more help from the industrialized world than it is presently getting) needs to focus on providing things like basic vaccines for all children. Laptops don't help children who are dieing from measels for lack of vaccination. Brazil, Argentina, Thailand, and Nigeria all have enough money to provide some basics like vaccines. These are not countries where large scale famine is a great threat. These four countries have a substantial level of economic development and government services. This is not to say the implementation of public health strategies and other much-needed services in these four countries is ideal.

Re:my guess

[Anonymous Coward]

Actully, most the targeted countries have water and food already. its a sterotype that too many people buy into.
the real reason for this laptop is to turn a second world country into one that interacts economically with the rest of the world. i really wish people would look closer before condemning the whole project, such ignorance.

Re:I guess only one thing can describe ...

[qortra]

Cha-Ching!!!

Is that the sound of a non-profit organization selling laptops at cost? These people will probably make passable salaries courtesy of the organization, but these are not going to be multi-million dollar CEOs and CTOs. Their only major gain here is possibly the minor fame that comes with starting a project like this. In fact, I think most of the companies involved are selling the parts are near cost. The fact is that everybody wants to get a choke-hold on emerging markets (the same markets that these target); but even if that happens for AMD and the like, I don't think Negroponte or any other "owner" is going to be exploiting starving children or their poor governments in order to buy shiny red Ferraris.

Riots?

[weasello]

Last time cheap laptops went on sale/given away there were so many rioting and fighting people that several were hospitalized. I wonder how a 3rd world country would deal with giving away these laptops, and how long they'll stay in the hands they are given to.

Re:Didn't RTFA but...

[Arker]

They come standard with wireless mesh and connection sharing, IIRC. The idea being that the school can get at least one of them connected, then they all are. Things they all need still only need to be downloaded once, then shared peer to peer over the much faster wireless connection, so it should be quite useful.

Re:my guess

[greenguy]

My guess is that for 99% of the children in these countries, the laptops will be totally useless, because what those kids really need is food, a clean source of water, and (especially for the girls) a chance to go to school and become literate.

To recap the responses to this kind of argument when it came up the last three or four times stories about the $100 laptop appeared on /.:

• Not every child in poor nations is starving. Even the ones who suffer from some level of malnutrition can still benefit from education.
• While most children in poor nations don't get as much education as they should, most get some. Most of them would love to learn to use a computer.
• Until and unless you follow through with your ideas, don't complain about people who follow through on theirs.

Also, did you notice the part where the governments of not one, but four poor nations are buying the computers? That would seem to indicate somebody thinks they will be useful.

Still very tough to pull off

[unPlugged-2.0]

That is good news but there are still lots of challenges to this. I remember reading that they need 10 million to even be able to produce them. They are still a long way off.

Now I am usually an optimist and i do believe that the OLPC project is at its core a good project but the competition is heating up with China, AMD and Intel with their own programs and china's project being almost competitive on price. Also the OLPC project relies on AMD and indirectly china's production capabilities to make it a reality.

Also in my opinion (and mine only - don't want to start a flameware) it is too much of a one man crusade. I think that there is way too much emphasis and publicity surrounding Negroponte and what he thinks that people (like me) will start to wonder if this is really a group effort or just one man's dream. There are times that the distinction between non-profit and corporation are blurred and the line between philanthropy and publicity are not clear.

However I think idea is sound and I think that the OLPC project has served notice to corporations that there is a very underserved market that can further the adoption of computers and thus overall help everyone out (like the Intel's and AMD's of the world). I think that a few years from now the lasting legacy of the OLPC project may be the fact that it spurred companies to serve this market.

And regardless of what people may say about computers and learning it does let me slack off and post on slashdot all day so they can't be so bad.

Re:Still very tough to pull off

[StrawberryFrog]

I remember reading that they need 10 million to even be able to produce them. They are still a long way off.

You remembered wrong:

"The laptop won't be produced unless at least five countries sign up at a million laptops each.

Four out of five isn't that far off.

Re:my guess

[228e2]

^^This is what gets me.

This whole 'foreign countries are mud holes' theory that people like you in the US (you're in Cali, i did a little digging) share.

I am from Nigeria, and sorry to dismay your lively opinion of Nigeria and the other countries, but I did not live in a tent, hut, nor was my house supported with bamboo sticks.

I have been to Brazil and Argentina and it is the same as it is here in America, several cities bursting with industrial, urban life, and yes like a few places here in America (Central plains, deep south) ther are places that missed the technology bandwagon and could use all the cheap technology they can get (there are a lot of elementary school in the south that have no computers). My point being these are not third world countries, they are first world.

But back to the thread's main focus, this will be an ideal kick in these countries behind to help them catch up to European and Western countries. If 4 million computers can produce just one more person who can go to college and stand on his feet, then everyone wins.

Re:Thats great but..

[Anonymous Coward]

When can i buy one?

Just be patient - once they've been delivered, it probably won't take long for them to start popping up on eBay...

Re:my guess

[NickFortune]

My guess is that for 99% of the children in these countries the laptops will be totally useless, because what those kids really need is food, a clean source of water

Gosh, I wasn't aware that poverty was endemic in Argentina and Brazil. I know it's too much to expect people to RTFA, but you could at least finish the summary before going into knee-jerk response mode.

But, let's assume that by 99% you mean 25% and we're just discussing Nigeria. It still doesn't make the OLPC program "totally useless". The thing to understand here is that just because the news channels only show you pictures from Africa when there's a drought or a famine, that doesn't mean that the entire continent is in a permenant, continuou state of starvation.

And yes, clean water and better educational facilities are sadly lacking in many parts of Africa. But that doesn't mean that clean water should be the only problem anyone is allowed to address. We can do things in parallel.

Four million kids, some of whom might never get a chance to see a computer, are going to grow up with marketable skills for the 21st century. They're going to get a chance to bring some money into their countries, and maybe get a chance to fix some of the other problems themselves.

And that can't be a bad thing

More importantly

[eclectro]

The laptops are part of Nigeria's "leave no scammer behind" initiative.

Re:More importantly

[IAmTheDave]

then they deserve the ridicule they get.

No, my friend, I'm sorry. No one deserves any ridicule any more. Kids don't fail, they have deffered success. Scores aren't kept at soccer or baseball games. We live in a world scrubbed clean by the PC bleach that we have been force-fed over the past two decades.

So please, a little love for the Nigerians, who, just like everyone else, were at some point harmed due to something that I as a white christian male did, and are thusly kept down and deserve the same diversity respect that everyone else does. They are not responsible for their actions any more than parents that allow their children to play GTA, thank God for our lawmakers.

So please, understand that just about anything negative you say about anyone, if they are anything besides a white christian male, will be construed as *ist or *phobic, and rightly so.

Re:More importantly

[Hentai]

Okay, here's the deal:

If we all rely on ourselves for our well-being, as the "idiot libertarians" preach, then those who are less directly powerful lose to those who are more powerful. We're all very well aware of this, but a lot of us choose to ignore it.

If we all rely on each other for our well-being, then those who are less manipulative and charismatic lose to those who are more manipulative and charismatic. We're all very well aware of this, but a lot of us choose to ignore it.

All extreme competition and extreme cooperation do is change the fitness criteria for the population; either way, you'll get assholes exploiting the system. All you can really decide is what KINDS of assholes you want exploiting the system - and if you're smart, you pick a system that you're more likely to exploit than be exploited by. But then, if you're capable of making that choice, you're generally either powerful enough to be just fine with the way things are now, or you're in the middle of a violent coup d'etat.

Summary: In a libertarian ideal, man exploits man. In a socialist utopia, it's the other way around.

Re:my guess

[jmv]

You talk like most people in these countries (Nigeria, Brazil, Argentina, and Thailand) have never seen food in their life or something like that. What these (and other) countries need is not food sent from industrialised countries (which often hurts the local economy more than anything), its means to improve their own economy. This is done (partly) through improved education and that's where OLPC can help. There's no single solution to complex problems. You can focus only on food, just as you can't focus only on computers. But saying OLPC is unnecessary because there are other (possibly more important) problems is missing the point.

Re:my guess

[rolfwind]

What I think most people are missing is this little thing called the internet. These things can make their own network and I suppose connect to the internet. For many people who had their computer ever disconnected from the net, hasn't it (computer) felt 100x less valuable? That's probably because it was, in a sense.

We don't need to count on future Einsteins, that's a plus. Don't underestimated the power of normal people with access to information. It's empowering. See the two USA Today articles below to understand my point (the ones with cell phones). A network is a useful thing indeed.

My guess is that for 99% of the children in these countries, the laptops will be totally useless, because what those kids really need is food, a clean source of water, and (especially for the girls) a chance to go to school and become literate.

https://www.cia.gov/cia/publications/factbook/geos /ni.html

Nigeria:
Literacy:
definition: age 15 and over can read and write
total population: 68%
male: 75.7%
female: 60.6% (2003 est.)

https://www.cia.gov/cia/publications/factbook/geos /br.html

Brazil:
Literacy:
definition: age 15 and over can read and write
total population: 86.4%
male: 86.1%
female: 86.6% (2003 est.)

https://www.cia.gov/cia/publications/factbook/geos /th.html

Thailand:
Literacy:
definition: age 15 and over can read and write
total population: 92.6%
male: 94.9%
female: 90.5% (2002)

https://www.cia.gov/cia/publications/factbook/geos /ar.html

Argentina:
Literacy:
definition: age 15 and over can read and write
total population: 97.1%
male: 97.1%
female: 97.1% (2003 est.)

See also:

"Africa's cell phone boom creates a base for low-cost banking"
http://www.usatoday.com/tech/products/gear/2005-08 -28-cell-banks-africa_x.htm

"Africa's cellphone explosion changes economics, society"
http://www.usatoday.com/tech/products/gear/2005-10 -16-africa-cellular_x.htm

Re:my guess

[Riktov]

Do you even realize just which ones "these countries" are?

Nigeria, Brazil, Argentina, and Thailand. Not Somalia, Bolivia, and Laos.

These are among the most economically developed countries on their respective continents. Hell, Brazil is a country that manufactures jet airliners that are operated by major U.S. airlines.

The computers are not going to naked starving kids in mud huts! These countries' governments know full well what it is that people in such circumstances (which all of the countries probably do have nonetheless) really need. They are likely going to cities which are relatively poor, but with a minimally sufficient economies, and working-class children (boys and girls) who would benefit most from education and the economic mobility it provides. And they've decided that cheap computers are the way to implement that.

These kids can't afford computers, and that's a problem. Because in the very cities they live in, people use computers every day.

Yeah Apple is going care.

[SmallFurryCreature]

Because everyone knows when it comes to really cheap computers Apple is right there as a market leader.

Sorry but no, Steve Jobs offering OS-X for free was nothing but a kind gesture. His product is so out of range of the audience who would have gotten these machines it would be very hard to imagine any generated sales. Unless the project is super succesfull and instantly gives these kids western style incomes. Upper western style incomes.

Windows is an entirely different matter. MS has near dominance of the computer OS and 4 million new users who use non-ms software is nasty. Not horribly nasty but MS is often claimed to keep its dominance because it is dominant. In short you have to use windows, because everyone else uses windows. If everyone else doesn't use windows. Neither do you have to use windows.

It is the reason MS doesn't come down all that hard on piracy and is so willing to offer cheap (by western standards) versions of its OS in high piracy areas. MS rather loose a billion in sales then loose its dominance. Munich showed that MS is basically willing to give its software and services not just away for free but actually offer money on top of it just to make sure some other OS is not used.

Apple competes on quality, MS competes by being the only game in town. Oh and don't forget that linux users will have little difficulty switching to OS-X wich is after all based on that linux wannabe BSD. /me runs for it.

Re:Yeah Apple is going care.

[wanorris]

The CPU is already designed, and has been in production for a while. (Corollary: that's why it's so cheap.)

It's an AMD Geode, which is an x86 computer-on-a-chip (onboard graphics, io, memory controller). It's a little late to try rearchitecting it to make it work differently.

Re:How about the source...

[Dicky]

The distribution and libraries are all open source, published and out there - and there's already a simulator which can do things like the dual-mode screen. Have a hunt around their Wiki - particularly the software section for you, I'd guess, and you should find everything you want. People to develop software for it is exactly what they want and need from us - go ahead, jump in!

Re:my guess

[Ohreally_factor]

Four million kids, some of whom might never get a chance to see a computer, are going to grow up with marketable skills for the 21st century.

What are you talking about? They will probably be forced to use OO.o and the Gimp.

Joke! Joke! I'm totally kidding!

Re:my guess

[Ohreally_factor]

I don't have a handy link from the CIA Factbook, but (using the time honored tradition of pulling a number out of my ass), I'd say that the literacy rate here on slashdot was around 47%.

It's ok

[rhfixer]

Well, I live in Argentina, so I can tell you what the situation is like here. There are people with a lot of money, that own towns or entire provinces (most of those ppl are in the goverment, that's obvious), people with a normal economic situation, who can buy a house or two, have a computer (or 3, as I do) and a car, and there are poor people. That plan is going to work, not for all the children, but for a small quantity. I think that plan is going to work, partially, but it is going to work.

My guess is that for 99% of the children in these countries, the laptops will be totally useless, because what those kids really need is food, a clean source of water, and (especially for the girls) a chance to go to school and become literate. On the other hand, it's possible that 1% of them will really be helped, and among that 1% might be some of the future Bachs and Einsteins of the world.

Just because we're outside the US doesn't mean we aren't enough intelligent to operate a computer. Well, they have food, a clean source of water, a chance to go to school, they only need a teacher.

Re:$100 laptop per child...

[apflwr3]

Still nothing on the $100 in food, clean water, shelter, and clothing per child project.

Right, because all possibly avenues for relief and charity dropped what they were doing to work on the laptop project.

Oh, and last I checked, Bob Geldof and Sally Struthers weren't making the world a better place-- and that $1 a day to "feed the children" doesn't seem to be doing much to provide for their future. Maybe a combination of current huminatarian efforts, with the access to education and knowledge that the laptop project will make possible could help some of these kids grow up to make their societies a better place.

You know, "teach a man to fish" and all that.

Re:One Laptop Per Scammer...

[alamandrax]

someone needs a "How to be funny and not just stupid" guide book. Oh! Here's one lying around. Should keep you amused for ages. Cheerio.

Re:I guess only one thing can describe ...

[dexomn]

The 'major gain' here is that kids will get to use computers.

Re:my guess

[riflemann]

Like others said, these countries aren't third world and starved, but quite prosperous. The project is not aimed at helping only starving impoverished countries, but also helping countries that need to take the next technological step.

They have food and water (ever been to thailand? Food's the last thing they need help with), but they don't have access to technology.

A day's eating in Thailand can cost around $1. A good salary is anything over $200/month. Not much to you and me, but it's plenty for all of life's (biological) essentials there, including health care.

But $200/month limits people's access to technology. Sure, you can get broadband access and they seem to have more mobile phone shops than the rest of the world combined, Bangkok even has one of the world's largest computer shoping centres...but outside the cities, technology and salaries are more limited.

Therefore the OLPC project will help bridge this gap.

Education leads to economical power.

[raventh1]

I am glad that this opens up opportunities for many children to learn about computers and grow up using them. All my life, I've had a computer around, and since everything is run by computers these days, it will do a couple things for those nations. Education of such a powerful tool will help them to get better jobs, and hopefully it will increase the market power for the countries.

I for one welcome these laptop weilding children of the world!

So how can we get one to develop on?

[Tracy Reed]

The OLPC website says they will only be available to schools and governments. How will anyone ever develop software for it? Why can't I pay $200 for one and have $100 of that go towards subsidizing a laptop for some other kid?

Re:my guess

[TubeSteak]

Not every child in poor nations is starving. Even the ones who suffer from some level of malnutrition can still benefit from education.

The National School Lunch Program Background and Development
http://www.fns.usda.gov/cnd/Lunch/AboutLunch/Progr amHistory_2.htm

To summarize: mal/undernourished children don't learn for shit. Since they will only learn a minority of what you teach them, the majority of the money spent on teaching them is wasted.

"Few of us sufficiently realize the powerful effect upon life of adequate nutritious food. Few of us ever think of how much it is responsible for our physical and mental advancement or what a force it has been in forwarding our civilized life." - Robert Hunter (author of Poverty in 1904) wrote that in the introduction to John Spargo's 1905 book The Bitter Cry of the Children

You can read more history here.

Some objective numbers

[g2devi]

Since people are arguing over subjective impressions on both sides, I decided to pull in some harder numbers.

WRT education hear are some stats on the literacy rate:
Argentina: 97.2%
Thailand: 92.6%
Brazil: 88.4%
Nigeria: 66.8%
(Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_ literacy_rate )

Okay, so except for Nigeria, most people in these countries seem to have a decent (though not necessarily high tech) education.

WRT general human development, here are some stats:
Argentina: .863 (High Human Development)
Thailand: .778 (Medium Human Development)
Brazil: .792 (Medium Human Development)
Nigeria: .453 (Low Human Development)
(Source: http://hdr.undp.org/reports/global/2005/pdf/HDR05_ HDI.pdf )

Okay, so except for Nigeria, most of these countries seem to be decent places to live (even though life is likely much harder than what north americans and europeans are used to)

Re:What ever happened to the $100 laptops?

[AcidLacedPenguiN]

for some reason I don't expect "every child shot into space" would be very popular. . .

Re:Not Awesome: Vaporware

[bunratty]

If there are no working prototypes, how did Kofi Annan present one at the World Summit on Information Society?

Re: This is a Joke!

[Jeremi]

but really, do they expect everyone to have eletricity? I hope their sending Solar Panels as well.

Assuming this is the same project mentioned in last month's Wired magazine, the laptops can be recharged using (among other things) physical labor (i.e. pulling a string, similar to how you start a lawnmower).

Really, sending something more practical like the parts to build a power plant, or tractors to grow food...might just be a better idea than a laptop

Seems like the World Bank has been trying things like that since the 1960's, and in many cases they didn't improve the situation much for anyone other than the government in power and their cronies. So why not try something new? Perhaps the problem has been that the things that would seem practical to a naive westerner aren't so practical after all.

We'll see what happens -- either these laptops will make a difference, or they won't. But don't be so quick to cast judgement on a program you don't know very much about. It's not like MIT is just jumping into this on a whim... they've given it several years of thought, and consulted with many people familiar with the areas they are trying to help.