[EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote:
Apparently, the OLPC folks have dropped yet another original design idea,
the hand crank, and now are talking about powering the $140+ laptop with a
string - you pull it like a lawnmower starter of old.
http://www.technologyreview.com/read_article.aspx?id=17194ch=infotech
http://www.engadget.com/2006/07/24/olpc-will-be-powered-by-pulling-a-string/
What next? Gerbils on a wheel?
it seems that, despite the design ideas, the project is still meeting
some resistance. i forward this message below, that some of you might
already be aware of.
ciao
p.
Original Message
Subject:[openaccess] RE: The One Laptop Per Child Project
Date: Wed, 26 Jul 2006 07:39:16 +0100
From: John Dada [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Reply-To: Open Access and Information for Development
[EMAIL PROTECTED]
To: Open Access and Information for Development [EMAIL PROTECTED]
*
*
*Apologies for cross posting*
*
*
*One laptop per kid not feasible for India!*
20 July 2006
India's Education secretary Sudeep Banerjee's letter to his counterpart
in the Planning Commission , Rajiv Ratna Shah, strongly disapproving of
the 'One Laptop Per Child' idea USD100 each, cost to be borne by
government for one million pieces floated by MIT, had instead asked the
plan panel to invest similar money for universalisation of secondary
education.
Complete with technical problems pointed out by IIT, Madras, pedagogical
suspicions raised by NCERT and first-hand experience of a senior HRD
official, who found that the laptops have not even crossed the prototype
stage, Banerjee had said OLPC may actually be detrimental to the growth
of creative and analytical abilities of the child. The education
secretary had said, if the Planning Commission has the kind of money
that would be required for this scheme, it would be appropriate to
utilise it for universalisation of secondary education, for which a
concept paper has been lying with the PC for approval since November
2005, and on which, he also made a presentation in the Planning
Commission, presided over by the deputy chairman.
A detailed report by a senior HRD official, who attended the OLPC
workshop in Massachusetts in May, found a series of faults with the
concept and strongly recommended against accepting it. Since the laptops
are in the prototype stage, the official found that hardware and
functionality testing, using open-source Linux software, is still to
begin. He also found out that due to the price of the battery and other
hidden costs, the laptops might actually cost USD200. It also needs to
be checked and certified in real time whether the connectivity distance
between the local server and these laptops would be 0.5 km or 3 km as
claimed. Another functional problem is that these laptops cannot be
upgraded without changing the motherboard , which would entail an
expenditure of nearly 40% of the total cost. The maintenance of these
laptops will also require a substantial investment and reserve stocks.
Source: Economic Times
http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/articleshowcnews/1779354.cms
--
paolo palmerini.
!!listen to my podcast!!
http://www.palmerini.org/plog
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