Kids Review the OLPC

A. N. Onymous sends us to OLPCNews for an account of kids' reactions to the OLPC XO, and comments: "My first impression is, it's just like when you give a kid a box of Lego." The video of a 10-year-old and his younger sister replacing a mobo is pretty cool.

Comments

Amazing concept

[Lord Artemis]

Just the fact that a couple of young kids can change a mobo in a laptop, something that most adults (or even many of the computer literate) are either unable to do or shy away from doing, is something to be said for this project.

Re:Amazing concept

[Hal_Porter]

Can't you die from the voltages inside a colour TV?

I remember reading a long time ago that contact with the back of a colour TV tube was "invariably fatal". Mind you from your experience and a bit of Googling maybe they were just being overly cautious -

http://www.repairfaq.org/REPAIR/F_safety.html
"TVs and monitors may have up to 35 KV on the CRT but the current is low - a couple of milliamps. However, the CRT capacitance can hold a painful charge for a long time. "

Elsewhere they mention that if you add a capacitor, it's dangerous, but so long as there's no capacitance connected, there isn't enough current available at 35kV to kill you.

Re:Amazing concept

[hey!]

You are proposing a false dichotomy. EITHER: (1) You create a device that can teach kids skills like repairing two stroke engines... OR (2) You create a device that kids can repair themselves. That's like saying either a two stroke engine can do useful work like pumping water, or it can repaired by users. The only thing they have to do with each other is that if you are poor, repairable means that the tool can continue to do useful work.

In the late eighties and nineties, at least here in the US, you heard the term "computer literacy" used a lot in connection with education. The thing was, it was a crock. The "computer skills" kids learned in the late 80s have very little direct relevance in 2010.

The thing about this device is that it is a kind of technological leapfrog, from the computer as an object of study to computer as a tool. They aren't going to receive these computers to learn about computers, like so many American kids. They are going to receive these computers to learn about other things.

If along the way, some start small enterprises as screwdriver shops, that would be a good thing. Many small businesses that can be started with little more than a few basic tools and a little enterprise do more for a society than a few great big ones. The screwdriver shop could be the ground floor of an entire informatics industry. For all we know, software's equivalent of Srinivasa Ramanujan will be some kid hanging around his (or her) cousin's screwdriver shop.

Re:Amazing concept

[wvmarle]

Do you have any clue how things happen in 90% of the world? You don't pay someone $100 per hour to repair for you, you do it yourself.

Remember that 90% of the world is NOT the US of A. I live in one of the most developed countries in Asia, Hong Kong, and we commonly pay people to fix things. From changing lamps (not the bulb, but the fitting) to doing the wallpaper and fixing your toilet and hinges in your kitchen door. DIY is barely heard of. And we pay roughly HK$50 per hour (about US$5). Computers I do myself of course but then that's my hobby.

About half of the world (India 1 bln, China 1 bln, and half a bln or so in the rest of Asia) lives in the Asian continent. Here repairmen make a good living, and there are many of them. Lots of equipment comes with installation: a window-type airconditioner is put in place, the washing machine is installed for you. Parts included.

Africa will work largely the same, also low wages there. Southern America similar. Maybe it's time for you to get out of your basement, and have a look at how the real world looks like. You know, outside of Northern America.

Re:Amazing concept

[99BottlesOfBeerInMyF]

In an agrarian culture, a two-stroke engine can perform useful work.

Suppose you live in an agrarian culture. You probably can't afford a two stroke engine, but even assuming you have one and can keep it running, you can't make much of a living. You see, the US subsidizes their farmers to produce a surplus, and they do so pretty cheaply since they have the money to invest in technology to start with, decreasing the overall cost. That American (and other first world) is too cheap for you to compete with so you, like most of your neighbors, are forced to give up farming and your farm is taken for taxes by your government. Now you're basically homeless and surviving on foreign aid.

Since those foreigners supplying the aid are bright and hi-tech, they realize that just shipping food and supplies is just exacerbating this problem, but what else can be done? The cost to build the infrastructure to create and maintain all the technology needed to compete, even without subsidized competitors, is incredibly expensive. So those people providing aid look for a labor intensive field, with a much smaller required technology infrastructure, so they can provide a sustainable way to help others. Computer networks have globalized the world. With computers and networks and some training, why a destitute child in the third world could make a lot of money (relative to their neighbors). Why pay an American big money to proofread your Website and find broken links, when an African will do it for 1/100th the cost?

OLPC is about moving away from being an agrarian society, since being a cost effective one is not economically viable. It is about moving towards a content generation, and computer skills based society, much like the US is becoming. It is ambitious, but I don't think it is unfeasible.

Re:Neato!

[Anonymous Coward]

At least one wall or corner of a fort.

It is excellent that many can easily jump right into using the XO. This speaks volumes for the middle of the road bunch that is also targeted by this project. Those in first world countries that see this in a good light.

Many of those in the third world countries will still need a bit of guidance. Specifically, those that have either never seen a computer, or have never had the chance to touch one.

I see the need for a screwdriver to change out the mobo. Does anyone else know what other options there were besides the need for a screwdriver? I have read how practically every aspect of this design was carefully thought out, but was there a discussion on the possible need to open the computer without the need for tools? Where could I find a discussion on that?

missing the point?

[Uksi]

What is the point of the kids being able to replace the motherboard? That's about as bad of a metric of usefulness of a computer as you can get. What if they couldn't at all figure out how to do it? Would that make for a bad OLPC?

What I want to know is whether kids can actually do anything useful/interesting on these laptops.

Re:"guided" disassembly

[sych]

I built my own white-box PC when I was only 11 using parts I ordered myself.

The only thing any adult provided me with was the money for the parts and a good amount of faith in my ability (thanks, Dad).

Kids can actually do quite a lot. The only instruction I had was from a book. If these kids can't read, they can probably get enough instruction from a video.

Re:Neato!

[Locutus]

they should have done what Handspring did and build a screw driver right into the device. They could build it into the corner of the battery door or something like that since there's no "pen" needed or provided with the OLPC device.

LoB

Re:With help from an adult...

[shenki]

Guidance, and explaining what the parts do. I'm an EE student, interning at OLPC.

They have used computers before, but they weren't geeks. I didn't ask them if they played with lego, etc. That would have been a good question.

And yes, in the trials around the world there have been suitations where groups of students have learnt how to repair the XOs for others in their schools. They set up small XO "hospitals" to fix broken laptops. Also, it is worth noting that as the design has progressed through the 4 different beta-test revisions, the hardware has become less prone to breakage, so some of the problems they've seen so far won't occur in the production version.

The laptops are designed to be easily servicable - a total of 12 screws need be removed for access to the motherboard, display, speakers and buttons. There are also spare screws located in the handle, for when screws go "missing".