This is a very grand vision, no doubt, but there crucial points that may be brushed over in the rhetoric. I'll point out one example, since it was one I was looking for: "The children will maintain the laptops themselves".
How? Who is going to train a child to maintain a laptop? Is Negropointe funding the training? I'd *love* to see children able to maintain their own laptops, but the truth of the matter is, very few techies in the US ever meddle with laptop hardware. Website developers, community technologists, people who can build a desktop machine from the ground up...all of them give up and get warranty service on their laptops. Why? Because everything is proprietary, the machines are delicate, and soldiering the power connector back on to your laptop's main board is somewhat more daunting than popping a PCI card into your desktop. Or does he mean they'll maintain their own software? I don't think that training is everything; those laptops could be an incredible tool for systemic social change. But they're only one step. Negropointe talks about not focusing on the laptops but on using them as tools to teach learning, instead of tools to teach something. Pedagogically, this sounds great...but then he contradicts himself by focusing entirely on the laptop itself, instead of on the teaching. Who's managing this $100 file server? Who's training the teachers who are (supposedly) training these students to maintain their own laptops? These questions are still unanswered. I think the cost per laptop may be cut down to $100 if you (irresponsibly) leave out training, service and support in addition to your marketing costs...and I'm far from convinced that Negropointe's not "marketing" this. Dave. ------------------- Dave A. Chakrabarti Projects Coordinator CTCNet Chicago [EMAIL PROTECTED] (708) 919 1026 ------------------- [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: > I am listening to Nicholas Negroponte, telling his story about the computer > that will change the world. > > He has referenced the beginning of the ideas , back from Seymour Papert's > ideas of teaching children to think, and how we could use Logo programming > when > it was a new initiative. > > He said, that , back then in the seventies, that it changed the way that > children using technology to think. > > Thirty years forward, he is describing the way it works in developing nations > and the difficulty of getting there , the location, the place, a person with > old pc's with a generator.. and they are teaching the kids Word and Excel.... > > in various countries all over the world.. with the misconception that > learning these programs will change the world. > > He is describing to us the three basic principles > > Use technology to learn learning not to learn something > > teaching is one but not the only way to achieve learning > > Leverage children themselves > > some > > 50 percent of the children in this world live in rural , poor, part of the > world and many of the children have barely a sixth grade education, and go to > school in shifts in huge groups. > More peer to peer teaching has to happen, and the children have to help with > the learning. > > He showed various pictures of children around the world who were being > introduced to technology from Dakar to Costa Rica... There are pictures of > children > from India, to ..Kashmir... and they showed use of wifi to connect the > various > groups of children. But connectivity is not the thing > the truth is that this technology is unfolding, the problem is not > telecommunications > it is the laptops.. the LAPTOPS > > He sent his son to Cambodia to create a project, and they had connectivity, > laptops, and created a > infrastructure in villages with no electricity, no roads, no resources, no > lights.. > the computers go home, and the light from the computers was the only light at > home. ( as long as the batteries lasted) > > Story in the US > Angus King started the laptop initiative in Maine and it was revolutionary. > He states that the initiative creates a new way of looking at technology. He > described the initiative. > > What is One Laptop Per Child? > > 1.A non profit entity of $30 M funding for non recurring engineering costs > > 2. About scale, scale, being global is crucial launch 5-10 million in 2007 > 50-150 million 2008 , in five large diverse countries. > > 3. To provide to children, to own, to take home to use seamlessly. > > There are partners > > Google, Ebay, AMC, News Corp, Brightstar, Marvell, Nortell, Red hat, 3M, etc > > A lot about laptops > > This is an education and a learning project. > Getting to a hundred dollard is sales, marketing and profit. the costs can > be 60 percent. > > Eliminate half of the cost by not doing these things. > No Sales, Marketing, Distribiution, first purchase order, 5-10 M units, > Linux, reduce display cost leveraging backlight innovation. > > 75 percent of the cost is to support the software and the features and these > features cost us. > Don't need a little dog pawing its foot while the thing is searching. We must > skinny the computers down.. Geez. Get a real computer. reality it will be so > fast it will be like a bat out of hell. It will be fast. > > 500 Mhz AMD and x86 processor > 128 DRAM > 512 Flash > 2 w Nominal > can be human power ( you can crank, power, pedal to get the power) > 50 percent of the children in the world DON'T have power > 3 USB Ports > Stereo sound with 2 audio out > > WIFI mesh Network > Mesh is the way to the Internet > rugged > Dual Mode display > Camera under consideration > > * information about boosters and shared memory > 20 kids in a classroom .. ten gigs.. > > CL 1 M/B Configeration > He showed the diagram, but the United States Justice Dept did not let it in > from customs yet > > Dual Mode Display > Spatial Color, backlike transmissive > 3 pixels > > > olpc LCD display Sunlight readable, reflective > > > > Open source has to be open source > Skinny Linux > Instant On > will be faster than your laptop > > parallel commercial channels > white box and brands > private labels > > Maintenance by the kids > > Design > Not cheap, not toy > > One broken in Cambodia in 3 and one half years. > the children take them HOME. > > Yes they will get used, they will have testing , to be dropped, to be broken, > to have icecream dripped over them and so forth, > > The version that was introduced in Tunis was the first of a variety of > computers. The colors are the way we refer to them and know which prototype > they are > the green machine, the blue machine etc. > > Ok the crank did not work in the first machine. the crank is now on the ac > adapter. > Dog energy can be used to run it.. he made a series of jokes. > Seed A-Pivot screen, e book shown > > Blue, book, side with crank out, > > Orange ( the one in customs, with the rabbit ears allows the mesh network to > work. > > Red more detailed features, larger display, Bill Gates said get a real > display, the one on the red is > bigger than Oragami.. > > Also part of the package > $100 server with 300 GB > > Interschool wireless connections > Satellite back haul, where needed > > Keyboard is rubber in every language ( first language, > > About launch > Global > simultaneoue, in quantities of one million each. > > It is launching outside of the US > > He shows a world map > > the green ones are the ones where the launch is starting. Brazil, Nigeria, > Thailand and Argentina and some states in the US. IADB is talking about doing > Central America, he is talking to India and China. This has to launch > globally > it is critical. > > Why not in the USA > Buy the $400 Intel Laptop > > We do not treat malaria here > too many school districts > Reverse chains > OLPC > > > no power, no telecoms, no teachers > > Timeline > > Nov 17 announced WSIS > Dec 12 Quanta agreed to build > May 06 developer boards > Nov 06 final country commitments > (Missed some of this) > > Laptop price commitment > > $100 target price end of 2008 > Price will float based on currency, memory, price of nickel, cobalt > > $138 anticipated in 2007 > $50 target price in 2010 > > Keep the features constant > > Gray Market issue > > There may be a secondary market, used the example that no one steals the US > postal service trucks, because there is no market, > > Economics > > Initial and launch > > Central government fundined > > Single order > > Subsequent order > > Philanthropic Organizations > Child to child funding > Commercial subsidy > Peer to peer funding > > Side Effects > Linux on the desktop > no cap locks key > power consciousness > more human power > no bloated softeare > stop featuristis > Viral telecommunications > peer to peer everything > learning by doing > > what is the purpose of the caps lock key, the inventor should be put in jail > and the position.. well > > The people here are > > Nia Lewis OLPC > Stephean Michaud OLP > Barry Vercoe MIT MEDIA Lab > Shicam Schampijer.MIT MEdia Lab > > What can you do contribute your ideas to wiki.laptop.org > > if you are personally interested or want a developer board, send email to : > iste@ laptop.org > _______________________________________________ > DIGITALDIVIDE mailing list > DIGITALDIVIDE@mailman.edc.org > http://mailman.edc.org/mailman/listinfo/digitaldivide > To unsubscribe, send a message to [EMAIL PROTECTED] with the word UNSUBSCRIBE > in the body of the message. > _______________________________________________ DIGITALDIVIDE mailing list DIGITALDIVIDE@mailman.edc.org http://mailman.edc.org/mailman/listinfo/digitaldivide To unsubscribe, send a message to [EMAIL PROTECTED] with the word UNSUBSCRIBE in the body of the message.
