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David Pogue Reviews the XO Laptop
Maximum Prophet writes "David Pogue, technology reviewer at the New York Times, has taken a first-hand look at the XO laptop, also known as the 'One Laptop Per Child' project, or the '$100 Laptop'. His reaction is very favorable, having tested it out via several criteria. And ultimately, he writes, the laptop is about more than just technology for the people. 'The biggest obstacle to the XO's success is not technology -- it's already a wonder -- but fear. Overseas ministers of education fear that changing the status quo might risk their jobs. Big-name computer makers fear that the XO will steal away an overlooked two-billion-person market. Critics fear that the poorest countries need food, malaria protection and clean water far more than computers. But the XO deserves to overcome those fears. Despite all the obstacles and doubters, O.L.P.C. has come up with a laptop that's tough and simple enough for hot, humid, dusty locales; cool enough to keep young minds engaged, both at school and at home; and open, flexible and collaborative enough to support a million different teaching and learning styles.'"
If you take a path no-one has taken before, you're basically risking your reputation (and I guess in the countries in question your life as well) on something that isn't proven to work. Or, in the case of Windows, isn't proven to sort of work.
The real question becomes, then, how afraid are you? Innovation always involves fear. But it involves ridiculous rewards when you're right.
When you consider that the course of action in question involves the betterment of an entire generation of children, and quite possibly their children as well, you can't be faulted for at least trying something new. Even something untested, because face it, your old and busted way isn't working very well.
What is is all that is. Isn't that obvious?
Maybe they should even sell a proper commercial OLPC (in black perhaps) to consumers expressly for this purpose. Use the profits to subsidize the educational version.
How can you "steal away" something that is being overlooked?
It sounds like they may be defining a new marketspace that others will be free to join and compete in.
What critics like you never seem to consider is that perhaps they _have_ considered the possibility and concluded that the benefit it will bring these countries and children outweighs the harm that some individuals might do?
Or are you advocating that we should just cut them loose entirely? embargo the entire continent until they've managed to pull themselves up to the first world standard, just in case any aid we give them backfires on us? (yes, I am well aware that I am exaggerating for the sake of dramatics).
A rather thin article to be sure, but this machine does offer something appealing - less of everything.
More and more, after years of Windows, then a Mac, then dabbling with various Linux distros, I find myself questioning just how much of the junk on my computers is essential or even useful.
Less moving parts, simpler and fewer applications, and limited capabilities, all sound like positives, not negatives, if only because it could slow the endless stream of updates and fixes, each of which seems to introduce other problems.
I can see an OLPC machine as really good daily machine for e-mail, browsing, and some everyday tasks like word processing, at least with a bigger hard drive. With the option of maintaining a desktop PC, even a generation older, to handle the heavy lifting of Adobe and similar tools, I could probably get by nicely with this little unit.
Three Squirrels
Critics fear that the poorest countries need food, malaria protection and clean water far more than computers.
'Cause there's no way that you could possibly use one of these things to learn about sustainable agriculture, malaria prevention, or safe drinking water, right?
That's flat out moronic. It's an amazing machine.
So why not sell them in the US?
These are ingenious little machines. It would be very smart to sell them to US consumers, but frankly I think the US computer market (something that includes me) tends to be... on average... far too ignorant to be able to buy these effectively. They will consider them all broken because they aren't "normal" computers.
All this is ignoring the fact the whole point of this project is to help 3rd world people, not give Americans another way to IM their friends.
They aren't underpowered, they have plenty of power. You don't NEED a dual CPU 2.x GHz laptop with 2 gigs of RAM to compute. This think would kick my Mac LC II around the block so bad it wouldn't be funny.
Comment forecast: Bits of genius surrounded by a sea of mediocrity.
and? your argument seems to be that people should be kept ignorant and powerless because some people will use knowledge and power for evil.
I don't think you've thought your cunning plan all the way through...
(I think I'll just bite my tongue on the porn issue for the moment)
Ya, it's a good thing that scams and porn don't happen on America's internets. Because if it did, that would definitely outweigh ANY benefits whatsoever and should definitely be shut down. If it can be used for bad, I DONT WANT ANY. Seriously though, are you joking as much as I am?
I love it when people take initiative to do what they think is the right thing, and then the people sitting on the sidelines are like, "Oh, you're doing it all wrong, you should do absolutely nothing like me." It really makes life entertaining for me.
They call me the wookie man, I guess that's what I am
Ha!
:D They'll have figured out the wonders of email, not to mention begun a lifetime of tinkering with the backgrounds of things instead of taking what's presented to them, and they'll have savvied up to American culture. They'll be reading more, writing more....
If those kids become socially, technically, and linguistically educated enough to run the scam, I'd say the laptop is a success. The kids will have learned english gooder...
It's jaded and crappy, but how is that not a success still?
And Porn? Well, you could make a case that porn, put in the hands of a kid that doesn't understand that the context, could warp normal sexual relationships. I think the rampant religion has already done that though, so no worries.... Remember, sex is BAD kids! The dinosours died because you touch yourself at night.
There will be plenty of takers for the foreseeable future. The program caters to peoples vanity, allowing the giver to flaunt their generosity. Nothing appeals more to the western world than gadgets and vanity, and if our obsessions can fuel third world education, then that would be the best thing since sliced bread.
Governments could also benefits from a relatively low-cost rugged PC. Try to get a reasonably equipped, rugged piece of hardware for $400. You can't.
However, the laptops for sale should be of a different colour, for instance red. This would alleviate one of the biggest concerns of the program --- that stolen green laptops became a major source of revenue to corrupt government officials, or to parents who found a few dollars more tempting than their child's education. The goods will eventually end up in the hand of westerners who act like Santa Claus but are actually stealing from the kids --- a disturbing thought.
Selling the standard green laptop is a gigantic mistake. By all means keep the production line the same, but please change (at least) the colour of the enclosure for the resale variant. Help keep the green XO in the hands of its intended users.
-- Fortes Fortuna Adjuvat --
I really love the mesh network concept. That should be in the big three operating systems already. Hopefully this will spur the adaptation of this concept to the big operating systems. I can see huge uses for it, from collaborative projects to gaming and of course education.
Birds eat bugs. But I guess we can just pour on more DDT to make up for their being gone.
And most of the people in these countries would prefer that rich white people stopped poisoning their environment.
Done with slashdot, done with nerds, getting a life.
At the risk of getting flames from a tech-oriented /. crowd, I still don't agree or possibly don't fully understand the mentality behind a push to get laptops into the hands of children in poor countries. I see it as folly, and missing the point of what people really want.
:) ), ebola or even foot
and mouth disease.
Whatever the case, with this thing the future looks bright - hopefully, our civilization could get a few thousand great scientists more a year in ten to twenty years (considering African birth rate and assuming less baby, children and adult deaths due to less stupidity, STDs and wars).
No need to flame, just listen to an explanation - what if those laptops came with a tiny version of wikipedia? Math, physics, engineering, agriculture texts and some instructional videos. Maybe some chemistry and biology. Perhaps they even start some knowledge oriented communities. Using that they can get to know about their surroundings and after some time even innovate. They could use our tech to set up their environment for a more comfortable and pro-intellectual atmosphere.
Who knows, maybe somebody out there gets to start a herbal-oriented medicine wiki and we get some use of it. If that's the case, it's worth it. Who knows what _WE_ are missing by not doing this ten years ago. Cure for cancer, cure for baldness (ha, got your attention there, have I?
It is always better to be a first grade version of yourself than a second grade version of someone else.
The XO is not a toy, it's an educational tool. I don't see math textbooks in U.S. toy stores.
Tom Swiss | the infamous tms | my blog
You cannot wash away blood with blood
I'ld like to add that they need to produce millions of near identical computers to get the economy of scale to produce it at $150-200 cost.
I'll add that it would help if the laptops were produced in the country if not the region that buys them. One nation mentioned as buying or having an interest in buying the XO is Brazil. If OLPC were to open a factory in Brazil to build them n ot only would it benefit education in Brazil but it would create jobs there too. They might not last long but the skills gained by the workers can be used somewhere else, a group of workers could start a business building computers and selling them. Others can write software.
FalconShould there be a Law?
Are you under the impression that children in developing countries are deprived of viewing nudity and sex? How do you think babies are breastfed? How do girls of their own age swim when they van not afford those fancy swimsuits? Where are their folks doing "it" in a shack sans multiple bedrooms?
Prudishness is an american problem. And here viewing pr0n can be argued to have educational value more important than math.