• Quick note - the problem with Youtube videos not embedding on the forum appears to have been fixed, thanks to ZiprHead. If you do still see problems let me know.

The OLPC $100 laptop

Jyera

Muse
J
Joined
Jun 25, 2004
Messages
736
The OLPC $100 laptop unveiled at UN net summit

OLPC = One Laptop Per Child
http://www.engadget.com/entry/1234000910068377/
3060000000054381.JPG


Looks cool. Anyone seen this and used it up close?
 
Word is that Kofi Annan tried demonstrating it at a press conference and the handle broke off when he wound it. Every picture I've seen has the same image on the screen. I suspect it's a photograph pasted where the screen should be, based on the fact that the image is always clear, doesn't wash out despite the heavy press lighting, and the fact that I've never seen it running any kind of application at all.

In short, I think what we're being shown a wood and plastic prototype. No electronics. It has some interesting specifications on paper. But I look on it as the hardware equivalent of vaporware. What ticks me off is that the officials are saying it will only be available in third-world countries. I'd like to buy two or three to play around with, see what I could make them do. I like the wind-up feature if indeed it would really work like they said.

http://www.cnn.com/2005/TECH/ptech/11/30/laptop/index.html

Looks like a fun machine.

Beanbag
 
$100 per kid? Which very rich kids are going to get this? So many poor schools in many places of the world don't have $100 to spend on textbooks for the whole school per year, never mind $100 for a laptop for each kid. Also what benefit will such a laptop bring for kids in such areas that is worth more then a $100 dollars spent on "basic" educational materials (like an electric light for the classroom, chalk for the blackboard, paper and pencils)? Or have I missed the point is this to get laptops into schools for young kids in places like the USA and EU countries?

Surely it would be better to campaign for "$100 per kid per year" to be spent on basic education? That I am sure would have much better and further reaching benefits then a $100 PC that is out of the reach of 99.9% of all poor kids?
 
Whoa!
I think I'm going to apply for JREF million. :)
A vision came to me that the handle broke.
 
No, no. It doesn't even cost that much.

For $300, you can get a school-in-a-box kit, with educational supplies for up to 80 children each.
 
Sounds like some sort of ill-thought-out wankery to me. The School-in-a-box idea seems MUCH more useful and practical. A Hospital-in-a-crate would be an excellent idea too. As would a Water-well-digger-on-a-pallet.
 
Zep said:
As would a Water-well-digger-on-a-pallet.
Click to expand...

Bit of a de-rail.

Providing wells has always puzzled me. What's so hard? It's a hole!

Deep boring for artesian supplies I can understand needs a bit of tech but shallow wells...?

I remember seeing a well made in Africa provided by a charity that only needed elbow grease and something to dig with. It was capped by a concrete plug and a pump. Couldn't they have just dug the well before instead of walking x miles for water. The pump is nice and sanitary, but why wait?

.
 
H3LL said:
Bit of a de-rail.

Providing wells has always puzzled me. What's so hard? It's a hole!

Deep boring for artesian supplies I can understand needs a bit of tech but shallow wells...?

I remember seeing a well made in Africa provided by a charity that only needed elbow grease and something to dig with. It was capped by a concrete plug and a pump. Couldn't they have just dug the well before instead of walking x miles for water. The pump is nice and sanitary, but why wait?

.
Click to expand...

Depends how deep it is, if you need to dig a deeper hole then the surrounding ground can "support" then the well shaft needs to be reinforced as you dig down, not impossible of course even if all you have is mud and straw and the like but not easy.
 
Last edited:
If the intent is to get more PC ability to poorer people, this is one of the most asinine ideas I've ever heard. And that's saying quite a lot.
 
Food and water are basic- All local mayor worthy of their voter ought to give this.Then come education - School-in-box helps. Again all worthy gov ought to do education themselve.

When Internet first arrive there was some debate about the widening gap between the "haves" and "have-not". Have-or-not-have-computer? Have-or-not-have a Internet access? Have-or-not-have a knowledgable and friend like those in the JREF forum? They call such gap the digital divide.

The digital-divide ushers in a new concept/parameter for describing "poor".

It is not so much about having lots of money but more of accessibility to opportunity. With an Internet-enable-OLPC-laptop, the child can have equal access to Internet.

With Internet comes ability to travel to the other end of the world to gain knowledge. With knowledge comes mental liberation. Creates demand to improve their own livelihood.

Anyone knows if
(1) the OLPC Laptop has ability to connect to Internet?
(2) the OLPC Laptop is augmented by some shared community facility to connect to internet?
 
Strikes me what's really needed is for us fatcats to offload our PIIIs in the developing word as we upgrade to Athlon 64s. Which is fine, unless you happen to be some poor devil trying to start a second hand PC store in Malawi, only to find yourself bankrupted by well meaning rich folks giving the damn things away.
Charity can be tricksy in not so obvious ways.
Still, when you think of the unused hardware sitting in houses all over Europe and America, it 's a damn shame if some kid can't get his paws on a pc in Africa. Jyera is dead right that it's access to cyberspace that really counts. Imagine the difference access to online data gives to a school in Nepal or Tanzania. I finally found a fitting macroscopic application for the term "Quantum Jump ".

Anyone know charities doing this sort of thing?

The success of the wind up radio rather makes me wonder how useful clockwork is as a power storage mechanism for electronics. I wouldn't mind a wind up rechargeable laptop myself, for those long journeys between battery charges. Fatcat execs need the exercise, too.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Back
Top Bottom