I have to wonder if any complainers have researched what regular school books and supplies cost these countries that are planning to purchase OLPC systems.
I haven't either, but considering what my college text books cost, I imagine that over the projected life of the OLPC system it will be cheaper than providing actual printed textbooks and study guides.
I know people like to think of bureaucrats as venal and/or stupid, but I happen to know a few and they are not. So I think the burden of proof is on those claiming its a bad idea, rather than accepting that the people in charge of the project in these countries don't know what they're doing.
well its not very intelligent to assume poor countries have to buy text books at our college text prices. you do know our college texts are seriously over priced and its a racket right? they keep putting out new editions so the professors and companies can keep raking in the money and keep the used textbooks from taking over. even small governments can afford to write basic school texts, we aren't talking cutting edge science texts here. basic math and language, the texts will last for years, paper is cheap, books can be passed down from classroom to classroom.
now imagine all the money that has been spent on this project were instead put towards writing decent textbooks for such countries and keeping it up to date. it would be a fraction of the cost of creating the infrastructure manufacturing and research for this gadget. open source textbooks how about that? no royalties. print them off in china, how much do you think one would cost? 1 dollar a book?
I find it surprising that your article does not mention the fact that 1 million units must be purchased by the purchasing government.
That $75 difference would mean a $75 million price difference... quite a bit if you ask me.
This project is one of those "feel good" projects which I have not liked from the beginning. It was designed for areas without a stable power grid (hence the hand crank) but I would think they would need stable power before a computer to surf the Internet, not to mention the infrastructure and bandwidth needs to connect to the Internet.
"Education still remains as one of the greatest factors in creating and ensuring prosperity, and expanding it is one of the best ways to improve a developing country"
Yet look at the countries like Greece in the lineup? I didn't think they were third world. And third world countries need a stable government for economic growth first and education second. Perhaps the message of the market for the OLPC is just not clear enough. Perhaps I have not been able to figure this out on my own. But I wonder, is it possible that the backers do not have a clear idea of the market they make this "project" for? Time to market is terrible, especially given that it uses existing technology. How can there be success in this case, even if success is charitable cause as there have been no shipments....
This is not a venture I would back with my own money. And as a cause to end world illiteracy, it has currently done nothing. I am not sure where extra teachers would not be a better answer in second world countries.
I am cynical, this project certainly makes for great PR and I cannot help but think that the marketing and branding being exported to lower income areas of second world countries is the ultimate goal of the companies involved and is the return they seek. Much like companies in America that get involved with (and oweners of companies become board members with) the United Way.
This will be the biggest flop since IT/Ginger. What an awful waste of developing countries' funds (they will be the ones paying for these after all). Charity? Hardly.
I got to try one of these when they were at the Linux Conference here in Sydney, (earlier this year).
The screen has an additional benefit. You can still see whatever's on the screen in direct sunlight. NONE of OLPC's competitors has the same capability.
As for ASUS Eee PC, its not a direct competitor. They're (ASUS) are aiming for a slightly different market. OLPC is expressly for developing countries. Eee PC is for anyone else who can afford a low cost mobile solution. (Its far more powerful, but less ruggered). So anyone in a developed country can get one. (assuming they can make enough of them!)
Interesting to see that in both cases, they use Linux as their default OS.
A few years back there was a scorpion epidemic in a town in South America. The government hit upon the brilliant idea of importing hundreds of chickens, which prey on scorpions, to take care of the pests. One month later there were still plenty of scorpions stinging people, because the villagers had eaten all of the chickens.
Providing laptops to people who don't have electricity, can't read, and have no interest in education is a complete waste of money. Six months after this program is launched most of them will be broken, stolen, or sold. And the ones that are left will probably be under-utilized.
I think you(and everyone else who has made similar posts) make a good point, but are also in the process missing part of the point of OLPC in the first place.
It is true that a lot of effort has been made to design the thing for use in extremely rugged/rural/poor conditions, but the fact of the matter is that's not where the XO-1 is going to end up at the beginning. Most of the nations planning on ordering the laptops are all nations in later states of developing, as opposed to being entirely undeveloped. These people have access to the basics such as food and medical care, and a lesser developed power and communication grid(e.g. you have power at school, but maybe not at home). In these situations there's no needs problem to solve, so the only real issue is of education: will the laptops provide the educational benefit the OLPC organization desires?
By the time the organization is distributing the laptops to the poorest nations and poorest children, we should have an answer to that question, which will make going forward a lot easier.
Ok - exactly. The laptop isn't going into the bush or the desert - it's going to places that can't afford $500, but maybe can afford $175. The problem is THE #^%$#& DESIGN OF THE LAPTOP IS BASED AROUND IT GOING SOMEWHERE IT'S NEVER GOING TO GO!
Just looking at this thing, it's terribly obvious that some altruistic but naive designer pictured village children in sub-Saharan Africa or SE Asia using this, and then totally missed the point that the internet connectivity and power access just wouldn't exist.
Then people got a clue, and realized that a cheap laptop would work great in Eastern Europe, or heck, even sub-middle-class America. The problem is those markets need power and storage. They don't need wifi webs or waterproof casings.
I would ask one question to the project if I were given the chance - how does this ridiculous laptop actually serve the needs of the people who will actually be able to make use of it better than a used $175 laptop? The answer is it simply doesn't.
These are people that can't even feed themselves. A laptop will be as useful as a space suit. In Zimbabwe they kicked out all the white farmers to give to the "rightful owners" (because racial diversity is only expected when it means white countries) and the end result was mass starvation because they didn't know basic farming. Do we really expect people living in the stone age to make the leap to the modern era? It took thousands of years of social and technological advancements to get to where we are today... and now we expect an illiterate 3rd worlder to watch an animation on a laptop to bring them up to speed? LOL!
quote: History - animated battles and speeches by participants ... etc. All of these will hold a child attention much better than a book.
Yes, because animated battles and speeches by the people in those battles can teach children about the effect of the Anopheles Mosquito, steam locomotion, or industrialization on global imperialism and/or the effects of capitalism on the developing worlds in which these children live!
Knowing about a battle means nothing if not taken in the context of it's cause, impacts, and there-for, what-for ,why-for, who-for, how-for, and all-fours (oh, wait no that last one is part of the porn feature)...
While a striped down not-quite-laptop is handy it will never take the place of a good teacher and a well written book, but it is better than the alternative......
of nothing at all...
Trying to take notes on a standard laptop is foolish (not quite so bad on a tablet pc.) The advantage of laptops in the classroom is to complement or even replace books. A truly good teacher is rare. However, software written and developed by a truly good teacher and development team scaled across thousands of schools can make a fairly positive difference. Teachers could choose competing software, similar to the way they choose books now, that complement their teaching style. Very few subjects would not benefit from this. Language - practice pronunciation. math - some of the best ways to learn early math already exist in the form of video games, science - see discovery channel, History - animated battles and speeches by participants ... etc. All of these will hold a child attention much better than a book. In addition, teaching how to truly use google could totally change society.
i thought i read that using the kids were using these laptops to view porn. i guess it's good we are giving them a way to see them naked ladies or guys.
anyways, my point is that i don't think having a laptop will have a big an impact as having books and good teachers. i'd rather see the money on these laptops being spent on teachers and books
As someone who has tried to use a laptop in a classroom, I find the usefulness of each student having one minimal. Input for most subjects is not natural at all with a keyboard (want to sketch a diagram or anything other than basic text and bullets? - takes more effort than doing so by hand)
Not to say that OLPC is not a valid project, just that people need to be a bit more aware of the fact that it will not perform miracles, and I don't think they are that valuable in a lecture situation.
The tablet pc is a good step, but the software available is limited, and such systems are clearly not fiscally feasible for something like OLPC.
waste of time as said, all you need are books, better class room environments, better pay for teachers and basic equipment. imagine how much infrastructure improvement could be had for the price of these pricey laptops. for the price of the laptops your libraries could be filled to the brim with books. and its an on going cost to boot, each year another batch of laptops. its silly thinking. you don't need laptops to learn language or math. basics are what schools need, teaching history, math, critical thinking, after that learning technical things is easy.
american schools have been wasting resources on this far too long as well. those apple ii's bought early on were used to do what? play oregon trail, as if that were "educational". give me a break. even with the clear evidence that technology isn't the magical solution to education here in the west we try to foist it on other countries that cant afford such extravagant waste? its slightly criminal really. our schools here in the west...many are crumbling. but i guess its not as fun to fix reality.
As an editor from https://cheapessaywriter.com/ beside all other factors and things, a kind of thing known as game-like formats called edutainment involving visual aid for students to learn the things even based on concepts and experiences that mix fun and learning to motivate students
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Zan Lynx - Monday, August 13, 2007 - link
I have to wonder if any complainers have researched what regular school books and supplies cost these countries that are planning to purchase OLPC systems.I haven't either, but considering what my college text books cost, I imagine that over the projected life of the OLPC system it will be cheaper than providing actual printed textbooks and study guides.
I know people like to think of bureaucrats as venal and/or stupid, but I happen to know a few and they are not. So I think the burden of proof is on those claiming its a bad idea, rather than accepting that the people in charge of the project in these countries don't know what they're doing.
0roo0roo - Thursday, August 16, 2007 - link
well its not very intelligent to assume poor countries have to buy text books at our college text prices. you do know our college texts are seriously over priced and its a racket right? they keep putting out new editions so the professors and companies can keep raking in the money and keep the used textbooks from taking over. even small governments can afford to write basic school texts, we aren't talking cutting edge science texts here. basic math and language, the texts will last for years, paper is cheap, books can be passed down from classroom to classroom.0roo0roo - Thursday, August 16, 2007 - link
now imagine all the money that has been spent on this project were instead put towards writing decent textbooks for such countries and keeping it up to date. it would be a fraction of the cost of creating the infrastructure manufacturing and research for this gadget. open source textbooks how about that? no royalties. print them off in china, how much do you think one would cost? 1 dollar a book?
creathir - Thursday, August 9, 2007 - link
I find it surprising that your article does not mention the fact that 1 million units must be purchased by the purchasing government.That $75 difference would mean a $75 million price difference... quite a bit if you ask me.
This project is one of those "feel good" projects which I have not liked from the beginning. It was designed for areas without a stable power grid (hence the hand crank) but I would think they would need stable power before a computer to surf the Internet, not to mention the infrastructure and bandwidth needs to connect to the Internet.
This thing is such a joke.
- Creathir
jevans64 - Saturday, August 11, 2007 - link
A million of them are going to Nigeria and are going to be used for Phishing.Dfere - Thursday, August 9, 2007 - link
"Education still remains as one of the greatest factors in creating and ensuring prosperity, and expanding it is one of the best ways to improve a developing country"Yet look at the countries like Greece in the lineup? I didn't think they were third world. And third world countries need a stable government for economic growth first and education second. Perhaps the message of the market for the OLPC is just not clear enough. Perhaps I have not been able to figure this out on my own. But I wonder, is it possible that the backers do not have a clear idea of the market they make this "project" for? Time to market is terrible, especially given that it uses existing technology. How can there be success in this case, even if success is charitable cause as there have been no shipments....
This is not a venture I would back with my own money. And as a cause to end world illiteracy, it has currently done nothing. I am not sure where extra teachers would not be a better answer in second world countries.
I am cynical, this project certainly makes for great PR and I cannot help but think that the marketing and branding being exported to lower income areas of second world countries is the ultimate goal of the companies involved and is the return they seek. Much like companies in America that get involved with (and oweners of companies become board members with) the United Way.
Great Googly Moogly - Thursday, August 9, 2007 - link
This will be the biggest flop since IT/Ginger. What an awful waste of developing countries' funds (they will be the ones paying for these after all). Charity? Hardly.stmok - Thursday, August 9, 2007 - link
I got to try one of these when they were at the Linux Conference here in Sydney, (earlier this year).The screen has an additional benefit. You can still see whatever's on the screen in direct sunlight. NONE of OLPC's competitors has the same capability.
As for ASUS Eee PC, its not a direct competitor. They're (ASUS) are aiming for a slightly different market. OLPC is expressly for developing countries. Eee PC is for anyone else who can afford a low cost mobile solution. (Its far more powerful, but less ruggered). So anyone in a developed country can get one. (assuming they can make enough of them!)
Interesting to see that in both cases, they use Linux as their default OS.
Justin Case - Wednesday, August 8, 2007 - link
The summary on the main page says "One Child per Laptop Program". Unless it's some sort of breeding program, I think that's the other way around.Ryan Smith - Wednesday, August 8, 2007 - link
Well we will have an article on that next week on our sister site BioTech...Anyhow, thanks for the notice. This is why working at night is not always the brightest idea.
thesafetyisoff - Wednesday, August 8, 2007 - link
A few years back there was a scorpion epidemic in a town in South America. The government hit upon the brilliant idea of importing hundreds of chickens, which prey on scorpions, to take care of the pests. One month later there were still plenty of scorpions stinging people, because the villagers had eaten all of the chickens.Providing laptops to people who don't have electricity, can't read, and have no interest in education is a complete waste of money. Six months after this program is launched most of them will be broken, stolen, or sold. And the ones that are left will probably be under-utilized.
Ryan Smith - Wednesday, August 8, 2007 - link
I think you(and everyone else who has made similar posts) make a good point, but are also in the process missing part of the point of OLPC in the first place.It is true that a lot of effort has been made to design the thing for use in extremely rugged/rural/poor conditions, but the fact of the matter is that's not where the XO-1 is going to end up at the beginning. Most of the nations planning on ordering the laptops are all nations in later states of developing, as opposed to being entirely undeveloped. These people have access to the basics such as food and medical care, and a lesser developed power and communication grid(e.g. you have power at school, but maybe not at home). In these situations there's no needs problem to solve, so the only real issue is of education: will the laptops provide the educational benefit the OLPC organization desires?
By the time the organization is distributing the laptops to the poorest nations and poorest children, we should have an answer to that question, which will make going forward a lot easier.
Sunrise089 - Thursday, August 9, 2007 - link
Ok - exactly. The laptop isn't going into the bush or the desert - it's going to places that can't afford $500, but maybe can afford $175. The problem is THE #^%$#& DESIGN OF THE LAPTOP IS BASED AROUND IT GOING SOMEWHERE IT'S NEVER GOING TO GO!Just looking at this thing, it's terribly obvious that some altruistic but naive designer pictured village children in sub-Saharan Africa or SE Asia using this, and then totally missed the point that the internet connectivity and power access just wouldn't exist.
Then people got a clue, and realized that a cheap laptop would work great in Eastern Europe, or heck, even sub-middle-class America. The problem is those markets need power and storage. They don't need wifi webs or waterproof casings.
I would ask one question to the project if I were given the chance - how does this ridiculous laptop actually serve the needs of the people who will actually be able to make use of it better than a used $175 laptop? The answer is it simply doesn't.
headbox - Wednesday, August 8, 2007 - link
These are people that can't even feed themselves. A laptop will be as useful as a space suit. In Zimbabwe they kicked out all the white farmers to give to the "rightful owners" (because racial diversity is only expected when it means white countries) and the end result was mass starvation because they didn't know basic farming. Do we really expect people living in the stone age to make the leap to the modern era? It took thousands of years of social and technological advancements to get to where we are today... and now we expect an illiterate 3rd worlder to watch an animation on a laptop to bring them up to speed? LOL!Lemonjellow - Wednesday, August 8, 2007 - link
Yes, because animated battles and speeches by the people in those battles can teach children about the effect of the Anopheles Mosquito, steam locomotion, or industrialization on global imperialism and/or the effects of capitalism on the developing worlds in which these children live!
Knowing about a battle means nothing if not taken in the context of it's cause, impacts, and there-for, what-for ,why-for, who-for, how-for, and all-fours (oh, wait no that last one is part of the porn feature)...
While a striped down not-quite-laptop is handy it will never take the place of a good teacher and a well written book, but it is better than the alternative......
of nothing at all...
acronos - Wednesday, August 8, 2007 - link
Trying to take notes on a standard laptop is foolish (not quite so bad on a tablet pc.) The advantage of laptops in the classroom is to complement or even replace books. A truly good teacher is rare. However, software written and developed by a truly good teacher and development team scaled across thousands of schools can make a fairly positive difference. Teachers could choose competing software, similar to the way they choose books now, that complement their teaching style. Very few subjects would not benefit from this. Language - practice pronunciation. math - some of the best ways to learn early math already exist in the form of video games, science - see discovery channel, History - animated battles and speeches by participants ... etc. All of these will hold a child attention much better than a book. In addition, teaching how to truly use google could totally change society.slashbinslashbash - Wednesday, August 8, 2007 - link
"the unit can safely be hooked up to any number of power sources, including solar or peddles."peddle = to travel around selling wares
pedal = a crankshaft system designed to be operated by the feet
saechaka - Wednesday, August 8, 2007 - link
i thought i read that using the kids were using these laptops to view porn. i guess it's good we are giving them a way to see them naked ladies or guys.anyways, my point is that i don't think having a laptop will have a big an impact as having books and good teachers. i'd rather see the money on these laptops being spent on teachers and books
Roy2001 - Thursday, August 9, 2007 - link
I agree with you. Good teachers are more important.Verdant - Wednesday, August 8, 2007 - link
As someone who has tried to use a laptop in a classroom, I find the usefulness of each student having one minimal. Input for most subjects is not natural at all with a keyboard (want to sketch a diagram or anything other than basic text and bullets? - takes more effort than doing so by hand)Not to say that OLPC is not a valid project, just that people need to be a bit more aware of the fact that it will not perform miracles, and I don't think they are that valuable in a lecture situation.
The tablet pc is a good step, but the software available is limited, and such systems are clearly not fiscally feasible for something like OLPC.
0roo0roo - Friday, August 10, 2007 - link
waste of time as said, all you need are books, better class room environments, better pay for teachers and basic equipment. imagine how much infrastructure improvement could be had for the price of these pricey laptops. for the price of the laptops your libraries could be filled to the brim with books. and its an on going cost to boot, each year another batch of laptops. its silly thinking. you don't need laptops to learn language or math. basics are what schools need, teaching history, math, critical thinking, after that learning technical things is easy.american schools have been wasting resources on this far too long as well. those apple ii's bought early on were used to do what? play oregon trail, as if that were "educational". give me a break. even with the clear evidence that technology isn't the magical solution to education here in the west we try to foist it on other countries that cant afford such extravagant waste? its slightly criminal really. our schools here in the west...many are crumbling. but i guess its not as fun to fix reality.
okevin - Friday, September 3, 2021 - link
As an editor from https://cheapessaywriter.com/ beside all other factors and things, a kind of thing known as game-like formats called edutainment involving visual aid for students to learn the things even based on concepts and experiences that mix fun and learning to motivate students