Here's a BBC article and associated slashdot discussion.

http://newsvote.bbc.co.uk/mpapps/pagetools/print/news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/technology/7140443.stm

http://hardware.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=07/12/13/0415245&from=rss

There've been a number of articles on the popular as well as tech press,
each with a different slant (usually positive or negative, but rarely
anything in-between).  This piece from BBC is very positive.  The OLPC
project has become very politically charged.  Many of the discussions and
articles dwell not so much on the technology, but the principle involved.

Questions for this group:

1.  Has anyone here had a chance to play with the OLPC for any extended
period?  What do you think of the tech entirely from an interaction design
perspective?

2.  What do you feel about well-meaning scientists and technologists in
'advanced societies' developing artifacts for the 'less privileged members'
of 'third world societies'?  One, of course, is the principle behind it.
The second, perhaps more important from a design perspective is: is it
possible for someone immersed in one social milieu to develop meaningful
designs that could have significant social impacts for an entirely different
social milieu? (I know that designers do, but is it a good thing?)  On the
one hand, it is nice to have fresh eyes look at a situation.  On the other
hand, one needs to be careful while messing around with culture.

Thanks.

Murli


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