Mass OLPC Production Begins

eldavojohn writes to tell us that mass production of the first XO laptops has officially started. "The commencement of mass production means children in developing nations could have the rugged, open-source laptops in hand starting this month. The OLPC has already announced orders for kids in Uruguay and Mongolia. (Residents of the U.S. and Canada participating in the Give 1 Get 1 program--which donates an XO to a child in a developing nation for every machine sold online--are expected to start getting laptops in December.)"

Comments

If you work in IT, you shouldn't support OLPC

[Anonymous Coward]

OLPC is a thinly-veiled attempt by corporations to create the next generation of IT "professionals" they can ship in to work for a third of what you charge. They're really laughing it up that they can do this is under the guise of a humanitarian gesture and get all the tax breaks to boot. There will be no Americans in IT in 20 years.

Re:If you work in IT, you shouldn't support OLPC

[$RANDOMLUSER]

OLPC is a thinly-veiled attempt by corporations to create the next generation of IT "professionals" they can ship in to work for a third of what you charge. They're really laughing it up that they can do this is under the guise of a humanitarian gesture and get all the tax breaks to boot. There will be no Americans in IT in 20 years.

Not with an attitude like that. You're not entitled to a high-paying job, you have to compete for it. The way to compete is to stay educated. Provide more value than "someone working for a third of what you do now".

But a nice troll, nonetheless.

Re:If you work in IT, you shouldn't support OLPC

[jay-be-em]

I remain at a loss as to why so many of my fellow Americans seem to believe
that by being born within these borders they deserve a job.

Having lived and worked in a developing African country I would much rather
see jobs go to people who work their asses off with few educational and
technical resources than to lazy Americans who don't even appreciate
the educational opportunities available here.

Fortunately not all Americans are as such, and those few will remain
competitive, by working their asses off, just as it should be, not by
being born with the national silver spoon in their mouths.

Re:If you work in IT, you shouldn't support OLPC

[sm62704]

Or thought much about it, or knows what a third world country is like. How can I compete with someone who only pays $30 a month for rent, can take his family to a nice restaraunt for a dollar, or ride anywhere in the country for a nickle? Not even by doing away with such luxuries like electricity and running water could I compete with that!

That was what Thailand was like in 1974 (USAF at the end of the Vietnam war). You can't compete with "dirt cheap".

-mcgrew

Re:If you work in IT, you shouldn't support OLPC

[xappax]

Outsourcing is shitty, but the solution isn't to keep third world kids stupid and computer-illiterate. We need to demand that US corporations take more responsibility for the local workers and towns who have carried them this far. Big business will screw over local workers as much as they can get away with, but we can reign them in as a society simply by demanding more than low, low prices. Support local businesses, boycott unethical/irresponsible companies. We don't need to resort to sabotaging the educational systems of other countries.

Re:If you work in IT, you shouldn't support OLPC

[truesaer]

All of this babbling about hard work misses the point...if hard work was what determined value then fruit pickers would make a ton of money. It's not hard work, it's your ability to provide value that matters. As work currently done by americans is offshored we need to respond by providing higher value services. Less simple code jockeying are more software architecture and design, that kind of thing. Keep upgrading your skills, they set you apart much more than simple hard work ever can.

Re:If you work in IT, you shouldn't support OLPC

[Ed Avis]

I shouldn't have to compete with every twit in every 3rd world country willing to work for the cost of a soda a day.

Maybe you think that, but the person paying the wages probably thinks otherwise. Since they are paying the bills, their opinion counts. You are, of course, free to start a company employing only workers on Western salaries if you believe that's how it should be. Let whichever provides the best service win.

Re:How about

[DrXym]

That depends on what is loaded on it. If it's Sugar and all that then I agree. If it's flashed (or can be flashed) with a cut down Fedora, Firefox, OpenOffice etc. then it's an enormously useful, rugged, mobile computer, perfect for travel, lectures, coffee shops etc. Having said that, I ordered my Eee PC today since it appears more consumer oriented than the OLPC.

Geode LX-700

[Weaselmancer]

It's got a nice processor, the Geode LX-700.

That's a lot of oomph actually. I know we're all used to our 3ghz desktops, but think about how nice 700mhz(equiv) actually is. I've got a refurbished eMachines 650 in my basement. It plays divx video with no problems.

You could use one of these as a portable entertainment center easy. Or how about a router? The thing is designed for minimum power draw. Use one in your basement as a router that works the way you want it to work.

A sub $200 x86 with that kind of horsepower and power specs has hundreds of uses.

Re:And since I'm fat...

[Anomolous Cowturd]

To get electricity into all their towns they're going to need electricians, draughtsmen, civil engineers, town planners, surveyors, miscellaneous paper-shufflers and so on. To get those they're going to need education.

Age of entitlement.

[Shivetya]

We have become a nation enslaved to our government through entitlements. The politicians daily spout that YOU deserve this and this, these people over here deserve this, and those over there get to pay for it because their too rich. When jobs are lost overseas the politicians trot out declaring evil corporations are to blame and that these entities need to be penalized; taxed more; to set the balances right.

We are encouraged to run up debt and then disclaim responsibility for our actions. We can engage in risk behavior and blame does who don't stop us (bartenders, smoking, riding without helmets, etc). We are told constantly that so and so wasn't at fault for murdering people because society, movies, video games, Iraq, etc, made them do it.

We are bombarded by the very people we elect to believe "It's okay, the government will make it all right" and people buy into this. Its easy to do when your not footing the bill for your actions. Unemployed because you won't learn a viable trade? Its okay, we got help for that. As such we see business practically driven overseas or the jobs go there.

An entitlement state only exists for as long as the people stuck paying have the means to do so. We won't run out of people to vilify soon, but it is still wrong.

No, we don't deserve jobs just because we live here, we don't deserve health care, we don't deserve cell phones, we don't deserve fancy cars, we don't deserve high speed net, we don't deserve a lot of things but it never ceases to amaze me what order people put their priorities.

Re:Age of entitlement.

[kestasjk]

An "entitlement state"? Is this the new buzzphrase that makes a complex situation seem really simple?

I thought the government was paralyzing us with fear, and helping the rich get richer. Isn't "state of fear" that the current anti-government line?

The reason the western world has it better than most of the rest of the world is a complex and interesting one, that can't be boiled down to politicians telling us we deserve something or rich people paying for everything good in our lives. All that matters for your argument is that America does have a very high GDP, as does the rest of the developed world. Because we're developed we're more productive; America isn't a country of people on welfare who are all wealthy for some inexplicable reason, businesses don't thrive in the US because the government is stealing from the rich, China accepts US credit for a reason.

If you don't think we deserve this or that modern convenience then give them up. Don't write on a laptop about how "ohh we are so terrible, we don't deserve laptops and cheese graters, damn government! No Mr Bush I don't deserve this fancy car you say I'm entitled to and that you're willing to pay for at the expense of the rich, give me a horse and buggy like they probably all use in China! I'm going to help the developing world by denying myself the cell phones and cars they manufacture."


On outsourcing, while I'm writing: My experience with outsourcing is limited to freelance sites like rentacoder.com , where people across the world can bid on software projects. I found that the prices for bids quoted by people in India or Romania or China are right in line with prices I would quote. There are no coders living in tents that will write SQL server for a hundred US dollars.

A lot of the outsourcing by Microsoft and the like to India Research is often done because it lets them get more done per day; as Redmond goes to sleep Bombay is getting down to work, as Bombay goes to sleep Cambridge is putting the coffee on, as Cambridge goes to sleep Redmond is checking its e-mail and seeing what progress has been made.

If you're really scared about outsourcing rather than fight the market you should want these countries to develop as quickly as possible so that everyone is on a level playing field. India will have more IT pros, but it'll need them in their own economy.

Re:Child Labor

[Anomolous Cowturd]

Those aren't children. They're young women. Get some glasses.

Re:For $400

[Hatta]

Does your regular laptop have a daylight readable screen? Can you chuck it in the back of your car without a second thought? Does it have a sealed keyboard so you can use it at the beach without a worry? How much does your regular laptop weigh and what is its battery life like?

Re:It's about time.

[rbanffy]

"Unless you are in a situation where you have absolutely no infrastructure (electricity, internet, etc.), I can't see the benefit to getting an OX/OLPC."

It's called the XO, not the OX. Apart from that it's small, portable, usable under direct sunlight, wireless, runs Linux and has great battery life.

I want one too.

Still, the about USD 400 buy-two-get-one price tag doesn't make much business sense...

Some background from Uruguay

[Acer500]

I'm from Uruguay (the country that has actually gone out and bought the XOs), and... it's not at all like you imagine it.

We have electricity and running water everywhere, better literacy than the US and public education for everyone (better than that of the US if Slashdot whining is to be believed !)

On the other hand, average wages are about U$ 300/month, and so a computer is a luxury item for most, and very especially for parents of school-age children like the ones which will be the recipient of the XO.

You can read at the unofficial Proyecto Ceibal blog (the Uruguayan OLPC initiative) about how this has the potential to be a nice step forward :)

http://olpc-ceibal.blogspot.com/

Re:And since I'm fat...

[galoise]

i laugh my ass off everytime i see this kind of comment. It would seem that people form the "developed world" think that everywhere else people live in the jungle sorrounded by monkeys. Electricity!? pleeeease.

Now, of course there ARE people living in huts in the jungle in some "developing" countries, but these ARE NOT the target population of the OLPC initiative, they are the UN's peace keeping operations and humanitarian initiatives target population